Cesária Évora

Cesaria Evora ( IPA: [ sɨzaɾiɐ ɛvuɾɐ ]; born August 27, 1941 in Mindelo, † December 17, 2011 ibid ) was the most famous singer of Cape Verde and is regarded as the Queen of Morna.

Biography

Cesaria Evora was called the " Barefoot Diva " because she performed without shoes traditionally and stockings. She came from a family of musicians of the city of Mindelo on the island of São Vicente. Her father Justino da Cruz Évora was a violinist. After his early death Cesária only came in a children's home, then in foster care. She lived from live performances in the pubs of the city. 1988, at age 47, she got her first record deal and quickly became a world star.

Together with Peter Maffay she took the song to Sodade, the encounters on Maffays CD 2 2006 - An Alliance for Children appeared. In the same year she was involved in the album Carnets de bord of the French singer Bernard Lavilliers.

The language of their songs is the Cape-Verdean Creole their home.

Cesaria Evora in 2008 suffered a stroke while touring in Australia. In October 2009, her album Nha Sentimento, which was recorded in early 2009 in Mindelo and Paris and produced by José da Silva appeared. In September 2010 she joined from for health reasons from the stage and returned back from Paris to Cabo Verde to, as she said, to spend " the last days " in their homeland. She died on 17 December 2011 in Mindelo. The Cape Verdean Prime Minister José Maria Neves then ordered a 48 -hour national mourning.

The Music

The tone of her songs is lyrical: love of life, melancholy and sweet melancholy, lost love, pain and hope, summarized in Sodade. In Voz d' Amor she sings:

Deeper feelings When all had crossed seas My home, my hidden world In the left side of my chest.

Évora is accompanied by guitar, cavaquinho, piano, bass, and percussion, often come to violin, accordion and soprano saxophone. Background of their songs is the history of their home with themes of isolation, the slave trade and emigration. In addition to the typical Cape Verdean songs she interpreted the songs of other origin, eg " Besame Mucho ". The vocal style is characterized by glissandi in intonation and a relatively free timing that is especially in rhythmic songs in contrast to the fixed timing of the backing band. This gives the music its typical, relaxed flowing character.

Awards

Discography

Studio albums

• Cesária ( with Tito Paris, guitar, piano, vocals and Luis Morais, clarinet, 1987)
• Aux Pieds Nus La Diva (1988 )
• Distino de Belita (1990 )
• Mar Azul (1991 )
• Miss Perfumado (1993 )
• Cesária (1995 )
• Cabo Verde ( 1997)
• Café Atlantico (1999)
• São Vicente di Longe (2001)
• Voz d' Amor (2003)
• Rogamar (2006)
• Nha Sentimento (2009)

Live albums and compilations

• Sodade - Les Plus Belles Mornas de Cesária ( Best of Collection, 1994)
• Club Sodade (Remix album, 1996)
• Live à l' Olympia ( Live recording from Paris, 1996)
• Best Of ( Best-of Collection, 1998)
• Cesaria Evora (DVD, Eric Mulet, ARTE, 2001)
• Live in Paris ( Live DVD, recorded on 28 April 2001 at the Zénith (Paris ), 2002 )
• Anthology ( Best-of Collection, 2002)
• Cesaria Evora 2002 ( released in Japan, 2002)
• Anthology - Mornas & coladeras ( best-of collection, double CD edition of Anthology, 2004)
• Live d' Amor ( Live DVD, recorded on 15 April 2004 at Le Grand Rex, Paris, 2004)
• Radio Mindelo (recordings from the early 1960s, 2008)
• Cesaria & ( duets with singers in the world, 2010)
• Mãe carinhosa (2013 )

Writings

Cesaria Evora: palpitations and singing. About a free life with mothers, men, children and music. In: Lettre International, LI 97, summer 2012.