Cesária Évora
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Cesária Évora, pron. IPA: [sɨ.'za.ri.ɐ 'ɛ.vʊ.rɐ], born August 27, 1941 in the port town of Mindelo on the Cape Verde island of São Vicente is a Grammy Award-winning folk singer. She is known as the "barefoot diva" because of her propensity to appear on stage in her bare feet in support of the homeless and poor women and children of her country.
Long known as the queen of the morna, a soulful genre (descendant of the Portuguese fado) sung in Creole-Portuguese, she mixes her sentimental folk tunes filled with longing and sadness with the acoustic sounds of guitar, cavaquinho, violin, accordion, and clarinet. Évora's Cape Verdean blues often speak of the country's long and bitter history of isolation and slave trade, as well as emigration - almost two-thirds of the million Cape Verdeans alive live abroad.
Évora's voice, a finely-tuned, melancholy instrument with a touch of hoarseness, highlights her emotional phrasing by accenting a word or phrase. Even audiences who do not understand her language are held spell-bound by the emotions evident in her performances.
In 2004 she won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album.
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[edit] Early years
Her mother worked as a cook with meagre earnings and brought up her daughter in a state of "dignified poverty". Cesaria's father, who earned his living as a violinist, died shortly after his daughter's seventh birthday. Cesaria acknowledged many years later that his death was likely due to alcoholism. Cesaria's mother left her daughter in the care of the local orphanage as she was struggling to support her. It was there that the young girl got her first taste of music, learning to sing with the orphanage choir. She left the choir when she was 13.
When she was 16 she met a sailor named Eduardo who taught her Cape Verdian traditional music of coladeras and mornas. After this she would then launch her own career singing in local bars and hotels. Honing her repertoire she would go on to establish herself as a local star. Cize, as she is known by her family and friends, would perform with a cigarette in hand and a glass of alcohol nearby at the bar.
In spite of her local popularity, Cesaria struggled in the early years of her career and ended up abandoning music for a full ten years. These ten "dark" years appear to have been largely spent drowning her sorrows and failed love affairs in drink.
[edit] Comeback
Following the encouragement of a Cape Verdian exile, Bana, living in Portugal, Cize began to resume her singing career. Thanks to Bana she was invited to Portugal to perform a series of concerts by a local women's organisation. And thanks to the women's association, she remained to record her first album. This proved to be a major turning point in her life.
While recording her album she met a Frenchman of Cape Verdian descent named Jose Da Silva who persuaded her to go to Paris where she recorded a new album, La diva aux pieds nus (The Barefoot Diva) in 1988.
The album won critical acclaim and started what can only be described as a dramatic comeback. This especially so as it is generally very unlikely for one to become an international star at the age of 47. Throughout the 1990's her albums and performances brought her a wider audience in Europe and beyond, with classic songs like "Sodade" from the "Miss Perfumado" album. At age 65, she is still performing. She also duetted with the Polish pop star Kayah in 2000.
[edit] Discography
- La Diva aux pieds nus - 1988
- Distino di Belita - 1990
- Mar Azul - 1991
- Miss Perfumado - 1992
- Sodade, Les Plus Belles Mornas De Cesaria - 1994
- Cesaria - 1995
- Cabo Verde - 1997
- Cafe Atlantico - 1999
- Sao Vicente de Longe - 2001
- Cesaria Evora Anthology - 2002
- Live in Paris (DVD) - 2002
- Club Sodade - 2003
- Voz D'amor - 2003
- Club Sodade - Cesaria Evora by... - 2003
- Live D'Amor (DVD) - 2004
- Rogamar - 2006
