QUEEN of Morna Cesaria Evora, one of the most influential and emotional vocalists in the world, is in Cyprus for two extraordinary concerts.
The organisers see the event as one of the first steps in putting Cyprus on the international cultural map with what is hopefully the first out of many efforts to bring internationally acclaimed artists to the island.
Cesaria Evoria enthralled the audience at the Limassol Municipal Garden Theatre last night and will do so again tonight at the Skali Aglandja Amphitheatre in Nicosia.
Born in 1941 in Cape Verde, Cesaria Evora sings a mixture of her native folk tunes and the acoustic sounds of guitar, cavaquinho (a tiny guitar from Portugal and Brazil used in samba, morna and coladeira music), violin, accordion and clarinet.
Morna is the blues of Cape Verde, mixing West African rhythms with Portuguese, Caribbean and Brazilian influences and sung with melancholy feelings of longing, yearning and homesickness.
Speaking at a news conference yesterday, Evora said, with the help of her translator, that she only sings in Creole and Spanish. “Tradition is important and sticking to my roots is very important to me,” she said.
Despite a large number of her fans not understanding the compelling lyrics of her songs, she manages to touch them with the depth and intensity of her voice.
“Maybe that’s why they say that music is a universal language,” she adds.
During yesterday’s news conference in Limassol, the All Records company presented Evora with a platinum disc for the exceptional record sales in Cyprus.
Known as the Barefoot Diva, the same name as her first album, because she appears on stage in bare feet to support the disadvantaged women and children of her country, Evora’s Cape Verdean blues often speaks 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. Her own life experiences and difficulties are enmeshed in the lyrics and melodies of her songs.
Evora was born in Mindelo on the island of Sao Vincente, one of the 10 islands that make up Cape Verde. She lived a poor life with her mother who eventually left her in an orphanage when she was seven to be better cared for.
At the age of 16, she began singing in local radio stations, in bars and with local musicians but her career did not really take off until 1988 when at 47 a French producer, Jose Da Silva, took her to Paris to record her first album La Diva aux Pieds Nus (the Barefoot Diva).
Nine albums after that, the most recent of which Voz d’Amor was released in September last year and won a Grammy award for Best Contemporary World Music Album, she is considered one of the finest vocalists with thousands of fans worldwide who flock to her concerts in Latin America, Europe, North America and the Middle East.
Despite rising from rags to riches, from singing in bars to becoming a worldwide phenomenon, Evora still lives in her hometown Mindelo in an enormous house, symbol of everything she has achieved. Not forgetting her roots, she generously gives away lots of gifts and money.
Her concerts in Cyprus will include hit songs such as Besame Mucho, Angola, Jardim Promedido, Tiempo Silencio, Linda Mimosa and Sodade, which she also sang with Eleftheria Arvanitaki in Greece.
Cesaria Evora’s two concerts are sponsored by the Cultural Services of the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Cyprus Tourism Organisation.
Cesaria Evoria sings at Skali Aglandja in Nicosia tonight at 8.30pm.
