Zeca Afonso

José Manuel Cerqueira Afonso dos Santos, José Afonso briefly ( born August 2, 1929 in Aveiro, Portugal, † 23 February 1987 in Setúbal), also known as Zeca Afonso or Zeca only, was one of the greatest singers and composers of Portugal. His song Grândola, Vila Morena was the start signal for the peaceful Carnation Revolution in 1974.

Life

José Afonso was born on 2 August 1929 in the port city of Aveiro and spent a part of the Youth in Angola and Mozambique. From 1940, he lived as a student and a student at the old University of Coimbra. He started early, the traditional Fado de Coimbra to sing - ballads that are only distantly related to the more familiar Fado in Lisbon and love and sing about student life. Was published in 1956 his first record. After graduation he was employed as a teacher at various locations in Portugal, then four years in Mozambique, where he experienced the resistance against the colonial regime. After his return to Portugal, he was the most important singers of the opposition. During his ministry, he was monitored by the secret police PIDE and had to take his record abroad.

On April 25, 1974 be officially forbidden song Grândola, Vila Morena was shortly after midnight broadcast on the radio: This was the agreed signal for the initiated soldiers and civilians of the Movimento forcas Armadas (MFA ), to rise up against the dictatorship - the Carnation Revolution began. In subsequent years, José Afonso was a supporter of the revolution, he sang at home and abroad, and supported self-government projects, without being bound by party politics.

José Afonso was composed after the end of his time in Coimbra, a large number of songs and sealed. His music is influenced by fado, folk song and art song as well as the experienced African music. The topics of his songs are diverse, central themes are loyalty and solidarity of the people.

The last years of his life fighting against José Afonso progressive amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. He died on 23 February 1987 in the port city of Setúbal. His compositions have remained alive in the following years. The large proportion of its unvertonten poetry (more than half of the entire work ) receives increasing attention. After a first 1985 published in Vienna philological dissertation was published in 2013 in Hamburg, the first doctoral dissertation on the obtained lyrical complete works ( poems and songs ) José Afonso. Musicians from different musical styles such as jazz, hip-hop or punk attacked on them.

Discography

Albums

Albums after his death

Tribute Projects (selection)