Five best songs by Cesaria Evora. Cesaria Evora: the life story of the great singer African singer Cesaria Evora

On Saturday, December 17, Cesaria Evora died at the age of 70. The world-famous singer from the Cape Verde Islands, whose fame came at the age of 47, sang all her songs in Creole (Cesaria did not know English). However, the meaning of her compositions about love and separation was clear to everyone who fell under the magic of the timbre of the most famous native of Cape Verde.

Evora Cesaria (b. August 27, 1941, Mindelo, Cape Verde), folk singer from Cape Verde (Cape Verde Islands, West Africa); performer of Portuguese folk combined with blues and jazz.
The singer's father died early, leaving his wife with seven children. In Mindelo, the most popular musical genres at that time were considered morna and coladera - slow and rhythmic songs expressing nostalgia, love, sadness and longing. Possessing a strong and emotional voice best suited to these styles, Cesaria quickly found her niche in the musical life of Mindelo and, thanks to regular and memorable performances, soon won the title of "Queen of the Morna". She moved with the musicians from club to club, giving concerts.

In the mid-1980s. José Da Silva, a young Frenchman of native roots, convinced Cesaria to go with him to Paris to record a record. So in 1988 the singer’s first album “La Diva aux Pieds Nus” was released. The song from it, Bia Lulucha, mixed with Zulu flavor, became a famous hit in Cape Verde. On October 1 of the same year, she gave her first performance in her life at the New Morning Club in Paris in front of a small audience. The next album is “Distino di Belita” (1990) and “Mar Azul” (1991). However, real recognition came only in 1992 with the release of the album “Miss Perfumado”. In France alone, the album sold more than 200,000 copies. A wave of morna craze has swept across the world.

In 1994, Caetano Veloso sang with Cesaria at performances in Sao Paulo. Caesarea's performances were triumphant in Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Switzerland, Africa and the West Indies. Through the mediation of the Lusafrica label, the record company BMG entered into a contract with her, as a result of which the collection “Sodade”, “Les Plus Belles Mornas De Cesaria” was born in the fall of this year.

The album "Cesaria" (1995) was nominated for a Grammy Award and named "Best Album of the Year" by more than a dozen central American publications. Cesaria gave ten concerts at the Le Bataclan club (Paris) and then flew out on her first tour of the United States. And Goran Bregovic invited her to record the track Ausencia for Emir Kusturica’s film Underground. The next album, “Cabo Verde,” was released in 1997, and “Cafe Atlantico” was released in 1999.
In 2003, Evora visited Russia with concerts.

The childhood and early years of Cesaria Evora

Cesaria Evora is a huge black diamond of a small impoverished country. The tiny nation of Cape Verde, located on the Cape Verde Islands off the western coast of Senegal, was a Portuguese colony until 1975. Here, in the family of a cook and a musician, the barefoot singer was born.

My father, a kind and simple man, was destined to live too short. The girl was not even 7 years old when he died. There were, as they say, seven children in the family. In order to somehow ease her fate, her mother gave Cesar to a shelter.

Having matured and gotten a little stronger, the girl returned home and began to help her mother. She cleaned, washed, washed, cooked, sang and secretly glanced at photographs of her musician father. What feelings they awakened in her is unknown. However, at the age of 14, to the accompaniment of a ukulele in a port tavern, Cesara first sang about love.

Nature gifted the girl with a strong and unique voice, which was characterized by a special magical timbre. The listeners immediately fell in love with the young singer and always supported her with thunderous applause.

Mindelo, as befits a port town, was famous for its vibrant nightlife. The doors of bars and clubs were open to all regulars and visiting sailors. The music that sounded on the streets and on the beach enchanted with foxtrots and waltzes, sad lyrical songs and fiery African melodies.

Cesaria's chesty and velvety voice was most suitable for the styles popular at that time - morna and coladera. And the girl herself liked slow rhythmic melodies, telling about deep feelings, sadness and longing, love and separation.

The first songs of Cesaria Evora

At the age of 17, Cesaria already had her own group of musicians, with whom she performed in clubs, winning an increasing number of fans and earning a living for herself and her family.

Her performances were bright and memorable, she knew how to touch the strings of the human soul in such a way that very soon she received universal popular recognition and love, and the highest award was the title of “Queen of Morna.”

In 1975, Portugal granted independence to Senegal, which was the reason for the final curtailment of trade in Cape Verde, which had already begun to fade away. Most of the musicians emigrated in different directions.

Cesaria Evora - Carnival

Cesaria remained. She continued to sing, measuring her native land with her bare feet and trying to somehow brighten up the lives of her fellow countrymen. By the way, the singer always walked barefoot and did not wear shoes to concerts. She only needed it to travel to countries with colder climates.

When asked about her barefoot image, Cesaria replied that in this way she showed solidarity with African women and children living below the poverty line. The then famous singer Bana and the Cape Verdean Women's Association repeatedly invited Cesaria to Lisbon to record.

The first to produce Evora was the famous singer, her fellow countryman Tito Paris. The debut of her solo album took place when the barefoot diva turned 43 years old.

Cesaria Evora - Besame Mucho

One day, the singing of the original star of the Cape Verdun blues (morna) was heard by the Frenchman José da Silva, a fellow countryman of Cesaria by origin. The young man was touched and amazed.

It took a lot of work to convince Cesaria to go to France. Finally, the singer gave in, and José da Silva took her to Paris to record a solo album. This was the beginning of the collaboration with Lusafrica.

In 1988, the world heard an album called Diva aux Pieds Nus. Next - work on Distino di Belita (1990), and in 1991 the song collection Mar Azul was released.

The world career of singer Cesaria Evora

In the early 80s, Cesaria went on a concert tour around Europe. in 1988 she received worldwide recognition and numerous fans. Women her age wanted to be like Cesaria and even went barefoot.

The release of the fourth solo album "Miss Perfumado" (1992) created a real sensation in the world of morna, modigny, and fado. Singing Portuguese folk mixed with blues and jazz in a Creole dialect, Cesaria Evora has become a 52-year-old pop star. In France alone, the number of discs sold was 200,000 copies.

The singer was the winner of a Grammy, Victoire de la Musique, and the most prestigious award - the Order of the Legion of Honor, presented to her by the French Minister of Culture Christie Albanel. Cesara recorded 18 albums and toured Russia and Ukraine several times.

Cesaria Evora sang with her soul. Soft, deep and soulful. Only a person with a sensitive and vulnerable heart can sing like this. And she was like that. Romantic, with an elusive charm and deep, like the ocean on which she grew up and remained faithful to him all her life, the inner beauty of a woman’s soul. Her name is put on a par with the names of Claudia Shulzhenko, Edith Piaf, Madonna and Elvis Presley.

Personal life of Cesaria Evora

In her personal life, Cesaria did not find her happiness. First love, the black-eyed guitarist Eduardo, set sail from his native shore in search of new adventures, leaving the girl in disappointment and pain.

Cesaria was sad for a long time. She poured out all her sadness and loneliness in songs. There were romances in the singer’s life, but Cesaria was not destined to meet a person who could constantly be nearby, both in trouble and in joy.

The greatest joy of her personal life was her three wonderful children, whom she, like her mother in her time, raised alone. World fame brought Cesaria more than 50 million dollars. She did not build fashionable mansions and buy villas in Miami. The singer spent all the money on maintaining primary education and the healthcare system of her country.

Grateful fellow countrymen wanted to erect a monument to Cesare during her lifetime, but she refused to spend money on perpetuating her person, ordering that it be given to her children.

Cesaria Evora died at exactly 70 years old, leaving behind not only unique songs and ballads. She left loyalty to her land, love and compassion for people.

Possessing only one language - Creole, and no special education, she proved that success comes when a person sincerely loves his work and always remains faithful to it.

In Mindelo, as in most port cities, the nightlife was vibrant, music was playing everywhere - in clubs, on the streets, on the beach. All styles were in fashion: ballads, waltzes, foxtrots, contradance. However, the most popular were considered morna and coladera - slow and rhythmic songs expressing nostalgia, love, sadness and longing. Possessing a strong and emotional voice best suited to these styles, Cesaria quickly found her niche in the musical life of Mindelo and, thanks to regular and memorable performances, soon won the title of "Queen of the Morna". With musicians loyal to her, she moved from club to club, giving concerts and earning a living from the generosity of her fans. However, in the late 50s the port began to decline, and when Senegal gained independence from Portugal in 1975, trade in Cape Verde quickly collapsed, and most musicians emigrated to other parts of the world. Caesarea Evora decided to stay in her homeland.

The singer Bana, famous in those parts, and the Cape Verdean Women's Association more than once invited her to record in Lisbon, but for some reason not a single producer was interested in her. And in the mid-80s, José Da Silva, a young Frenchman of Cape Verdun roots, was so moved by Cesaria's singing that he convinced her to go with him to Paris to record a record. The singer's first album, La Diva aux Pieds Nus, was released in 1988, followed by Distino di Belita (1990) and Mar Azul (1991). However, real recognition came only in 1992 with the release of the album Miss Perfumado, which, with its triumphant march from Paris to Lisbon and from Montreal to Barcelona, ​​in one moment turned 52-year-old Cesaria Evora into a pop star, whose disc was sold only in France in an amount of more than 200,000 copies. For her habit of appearing on stage barefoot as a sign of solidarity with poor African women and children, she was given the comic nickname “barefoot diva,” which she is not at all offended by. A wave of passion for Morna, the Cape Verdean version of the blues, swept across the world.

Released in 1995, Cesaria (debut on the Nonesuch label) was nominated for a Grammy Award and named "Best Album of the Year" by more than a dozen central American publications, including The New York Times, Boston Globe, Philadelphia Inquirer, Denver Post, Minneapolis Star -Tribune, San Diego Union and CD Review. On this disc, which rose almost to the very top of the Billboard charts and remained there for a considerable time, the singer, with her soul-piercing vocals and touching lyrics, tries to recreate the fabulous atmosphere of the Cape Verdean nights. Here Cesaria, a big fan of Edith Piaf, Billie Holiday and Bessie Smith, is accompanied by a large cast of acoustic instruments: several guitars (including a cavachino - a small 4-string rhythm guitar), violin, accordion and clarinet. Recorded live, they enhance the fluidity and emotional depth of her voice. The album begins with the debut single "Petit Pays" and includes some more rhythmic songs, as well as a number of soul-stirring melodies, which Cesaria performs with her inimitable carelessness. The French newspaper La Vie (Paris) wrote about this album: "Cesaria Evora's charm, her rich, warm voice touches us again as before. Don't miss the opportunity to get real pleasure."

Cesaria Evora has been enthusiastically received in Europe, especially in France, where her latest album went double gold, and in Portugal. The newspaper Le Monde (Paris) enthusiastically noted that “Evora’s voice is capable of touching any soul.” Her most recent performances included two sold-out concerts at the Montreal Jazz Festival in 1995 and a brief tour of the United States last spring. In the future, in October 1996, she is scheduled to tour 27 cities in North America with stops in New York, Boston, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis, Montreal, Vancouver, Portland, Houston and Austin.

Cesaria Évora (port. Cesária Évora; nicknamed “barefoot diva”; August 27, 1941, Mindelo - December 17, 2011, Sao Vicente) - singer from the Cape Verde Islands, performer of morna, fado and modigna. She sang in Cape Verdean Creole. The acoustic frame for the voice was a piano, ukulele, accordion, violin and clarinet. Cesaria Evora is a two-time winner of the French music award - “Victoire de la music” (in 2000 for the album Café Atlantico and in 2004 for the album Voz d’Amor). She was nominated for a Grammy five times and won this award once (for the album “Voz d’Amor” in 2004). On February 6, 2009, Cesaria Evora was awarded the French Legion of Honor. Evora invariably appeared on stage barefoot - this is a symbolic tribute to the poverty in which her fellow countrymen lived (and almost half continue to live) on the Cape Verde Islands. The singer walked barefoot in life for many years. She wore only sandals while traveling in temperate countries.

Since 1958, that is, from the age of 17, Cesaria Evora worked in music bars in Mindelo. Initially she performed songs in the style of “morna” (port. morna) - a genre traditional for the Cape Verde Islands, as well as “fado” (port. fado), African songs and coladeras. The singer recorded her first solo album at the age of forty-three in Lisbon. Evora's first producer was another famous singer, Cape Verdean Tito Paris. There in Lisbon, at the Enclave restaurant (where the club of Lisbon Caboverdians met), José da Silva, a Frenchman with Caboverdian roots, heard her and was captivated by her voice so much that he devoted three years to making her famous. He brought the now 47-year-old singer to France. From that moment on, her collaboration with Lusafrica began. In the early 1980s, Cesaria Evora began a tour of Europe. And already in 1988 she became famous throughout the world. The singer received special recognition after the release of her fourth album “Miss Perfumado” in 1992. The singer's first performance in Russia took place in April 2002 at the Anatoly Vasilyev Theater on Sretenka. This concert was closed to the general public and the visit was not officially announced. The second concert took place in May of the same year at the Maly Theater. In subsequent years, the singer repeatedly performed in Russia with concerts in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don, Barnaul, Yekaterinburg, Perm, Tver, Arkhangelsk, Ufa, Tyumen, Yaroslavl, Samara, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Tomsk, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk and Kazan. In May 2010, due to heart problems, the singer had to cancel all her concert performances until the end of the year. In September 2011, she announced her retirement from her singing career. On December 17, 2011, Cesaria Évora died in Cape Verde at the age of 70. The causes of death are cardiopulmonary failure and arterial hypertension.

Her songs are like a light sea breeze on a quiet evening coast during sunset: on the one hand, simple human happiness, and on the other, infinitely bright sadness. She sings the songs of paradise, where a person returned, knowing that at any second he could lose him... African Edith Piaf, a 62-year-old grandmother from the Cape Verde Islands, sang all her life in smoky port bars. And she began her professional career only at 47 years old. Income from Evora's concert activities formed almost half of the treasury of her homeland - Cape Verde. Her manner of performing the morna of drawn-out and melodic romantic ballads in Creole drove world music connoisseurs crazy.

Evora was born on August 27, 1941 in the port city of Mindelo (Cape Verde) in the family of a musician. At the age of 17, Cesaria began performing in the bars of Mindelo, performing mainly the works of the poet and composer B. Lez, whose mornes became classics of the archipelago. In 1975, after a long struggle for independence from Portugal, a coup took place in the archipelago and a pro-Marxist regime was established. The country has a difficult economic situation. Cesaria can no longer earn a living by singing. Unrecognized, she falls silent for ten long years. She finds calm in cognac and cigars. In 1985, Cesaria yields to the requests of her friends and participates in the recording of a collective album of the best morna performers from Cape Verde. In 1986, the recording of her first solo album took place in Lisbon. This is followed by many concerts in different countries among the Cape Verdean diaspora. A significant meeting soon followed with José Da Silva, Cesaria's compatriot living in France. A fan of the musical culture of his people, Jose works as a roadman at night and devotes his days to music. It is he who takes her career into his own hands, as a result of which her first French album, “Barefoot Diva,” is released in the same year. This album begins her collaboration with Lusafrica, which continues to this day.

In 1990, Cesaria's second album, “The Fate of a Beauty,” was released. This album doesn't make much noise, but Cesaria's fame is growing among the Cape Verdean diaspora. In 1991, Cesaria enjoyed success at the festival in Angoulême. She was noticed by the French press. And, although her performance in Paris on June 2, 1991 gathers only her compatriots, Libération writes about her in enthusiastic terms. Cesaria celebrates her fiftieth anniversary with the release of a new album, which Le Monde rave about. The disc is played on the radio, her solo concert on December 14 is completely sold out, her audience this time consists of almost only Europeans. In 1992, the album “Miss Perfumado” was recorded, for which Cesaria received a Golden Disc, becoming the second African after Miriam Makeba to achieve such success.

1993 is the year of Cesaria's triumph in France. The press is choked with delight and savors the details of her life, her exorbitant passion for smoking and cognac, her difficult life in Mindelo at the end of the world, calling her the African Billie Holiday. This year the first concerts are taking place in Olympia, all of Paris is at her feet. This whole year is spent on tour: Portugal, Canada, Spain, Japan...

In 1994, the discovery of Brazil and the meeting of Cesaria with the Brazilian Caetano Veloso, who had a great influence on her work. Again, countless tours around the world... And in almost every country, the best singers ask her to sing with them. Cesaria is always willing to experiment: her partners are Rita Mitsuko, Catherine Ringer, Caetano Veloso and others. In the same year, the collection “The Most Beautiful Mornas of Cesaria” was published. This year is significant in that Cesaria conquers her passion for cognac, the companion of her ten-year depression. In 1995 - Cesaria's American tour. Her album "Cesaria", which has already received a Golden Disc in France, becomes a hit in the USA (150 thousand copies sold). Her concerts take her by storm. The American show elite breaks into her concert. In the same year, she recorded the tango Ausencia for Emir Kusturica’s film “Underground”. Cesaria tours a lot. In 1997, a new album “Cape Verde” was released, countless tours, including the USA, where this disc was nominated for a Grammy Award. In 1998, a new collection, “The Best of Cesaria Evora,” included all her best songs, as well as Besame Mucho in Spanish, previously recorded for the film “Great Expectations.” She sang what seemed to be a hit that had already been completely played out, and she sang it as if no one had set the words “kiss me harder” to music before the author of this song, the Mexican Consuelo Velazquez. And again Cesaria travels around the world with concerts.

In 1999, her new album “Cafe Atlantico” was released, first in France, then distributed throughout the world. The homeland of Cesaria, the port of Mindelo and the islands of San Vincente became the main themes of the album. “Cafe Atlantico,” the collective name for the countless bars in Mindelo where Cesaria once sang, sells 600 thousand copies. This disc brings her Victoire dela musique - the highest recognition of musical success in France.

In 2001, Cesaria’s album “San Vincente from Afar” appeared - the quintessence of Cesaria’s creative path, in which she is established not only as a professional of the highest standard, but also a force that knows how to unite the best musicians and performers around herself. In July 2002, the double album “Anthology” was released. Now in Paris, at her headquarters, work is underway on the next album. Grandmother Cesaria, who lost three husbands, is tired of touring (age and illness are showing) and is going to spend more time in studios, recording discs. In Mindelo, as in most port cities, the nightlife was vibrant, music was playing everywhere - in clubs, on the streets, on the beach. All styles were in fashion: ballads, waltzes, foxtrots, contradance. However, the most popular were considered morna and coladera - slow and rhythmic songs expressing nostalgia, love, sadness and longing.

Possessing a strong and emotional voice, most suitable for these styles, Cesaria quickly found her niche in the musical life of Mindelo and thanks to regular and memorable performances she soon won the title of “Queen of Morna”. With musicians loyal to her, she moved from club to club, giving concerts and earning for a living from the generosity of his fans. However, in the late 50s the port began to decline, and when Senegal gained independence from Portugal in 1975, trade in Cape Verde quickly collapsed, and most musicians emigrated to other parts of the world. Caesarea Evora decided to stay in her homeland.