The singer from the Cape Verde Islands has become one of the most popular performers of our time. Evora always went on stage barefoot: out of solidarity with the poor - her fellow countrymen. Cesaria went barefoot in life for many years. She wore shoes only on exceptional occasions, for example when she went on tour.

Evora was born in Mindelo in 1941 and began performing in music bars at the age of 17. She sang songs in the style of “morna” (folklore music of the Cape Verde Islands), languid Portuguese “fado”, and also included her favorite African songs in her repertoire.
The singer released her debut album only at the age of 43 in Lisbon, went on her first tour of Europe in the early 1980s, and already in 1988 she became famous throughout the world.
Cesaria's first performance in Russia took place in April 2002 at the Anatoly Vasiliev Theater on Sretenka.
Over the years of performances, Evora earned $50 million.

Five best songs by Cesaria Evora

1 Miss Perfumado - album Miss Perfumado, 1992. For this album, Evora was nominated for a Grammy and received a Golden Disc award in Paris, becoming the second African after Miriam Makeba to achieve such success. The fourth album and its title song became the most famous in the singer’s work.

2 Sangue de Beirona - album Cabo Verde, 1997. The disc was nominated for a Grammy Award. This is one of the singer’s favorite albums, with which she went on tour for many months and traveled all over the world. It was in Cape Verde that the singer died in 2011 at the age of 70.

3 Amor di Mundo - album Café Atlantico, 1999. The album "Cafe Atlantico" was nominated for a Grammy and brought the singer the Victoire dela misique award - the highest recognition of musical success in France. The title of the disc is the collective name of all the bars in Mindelo where Cesaria worked for many years. That is why the song Amor di Mundo turned out to be especially emotional - it is nostalgic.

4 Il rarazzo della via Gluck, 2004. Cesaria recorded a remake of the famous composition “The Guy from Gluck Street” together with the Italian actor and singer Adriano Celentano. The song, sung in Creole, was included in Celentano's album Ce sempre un motivo. This 1966 composition, in which the singer sang about himself (Adriano was born on Gluck Street in Milan), was translated into 22 languages ​​and topped the Italian charts for more than four months. Celentano commented on this duet: “I have always listened and love the music of Cesaria, which preserves the spirit of her culture. One day I asked Claudia (wife - ed. note) to offer to sing together. During the conversation, I said that I would be pleased to sing with her. Or one of her great things, or "The Guy from Glitch Street." She wanted to listen to the song. She really liked it and approved of the idea.” The duet of two great musicians was magnificent.

5 Isolada - Voz d'Amor, 2004. This disc finally received a Grammy Award, for which the singer was nominated five times. After its release, Evora again received the title Victoire dela misique in France. Isolada - the title and most soulful song - sets the tone for the entire album .

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's debut on the Nonesuch label was nominated for a Grammy Award and named "Best Album of the Year" by more than a dozen mainstream American publications, including The New York Times, Boston Globe, Philadelphia Inquirer, Denver Post, and Minneapolis Star. -Tribune, San Diego Union and CD Review. On this disc, which rose almost to the 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 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.

Singer from Cape Verde. Performer of morna, fado and modinha styles in the Portuguese dialect.

Cesaria Evora(Cesária Évora) was born in the summer of 1941 on the Cape Verde Islands. When the girl was seven years old, her father and the head of their large family passed away. Three years later Cesaria Evora ended up in an orphanage because her mother worked as a cook and was unable to raise six children on her own.

The creative path of Cesaria Évora / Cesária Évora

Her first musical performance took place at the age of sixteen in a port tavern.

– I sang in bars in Mindelo. The music there was an accompaniment to an intimate conversation accompanied by a glass of grog. Everyone treated me, and I got involved. When I stopped singing, alcohol saved me from dark thoughts. But now I'm singing again, and I don't need cognac. I only drink water.

Cesaria Evora began her musical career by performing compositions in the morna style, characteristic of the Cape Verde Islands. Soon she began performing African songs, blues and fado compositions. Performances Cesaria Evora often accompanied by a piano, accordion, clarinet and ukulele.

– Our music is a mixture of very different directions. Some say it's blues or jazz. Some say that we perform African or Brazilian compositions. But no one really knows the truth. Music is a universal means of communication. Even if you don't know the language, you still listen and understand her. People speak the language of rhythms.

The essence of the morna style is a deep nostalgia and longing, which can be expressed by the Portuguese word sodade. Themes of most compositions Cesaria Evora became the vicissitudes of love, pain, suffering in exile and the desire to return to their homeland.

In 1960 Cesaria Evora sang on a Portuguese cruise ship that stopped in her hometown. It could be heard on local radio stations. Five years later, at the invitation of the Cape Verdean singer Bana Cesaria Evora ended up in the capital of Portugal, Lisbon. There she recorded her first solo album.

At the Enclave restaurant, a musician noticed the performer Jose da Silva and invited me to make some recordings in Paris. In France Cesaria Evora began collaborating with Lusafrica.

Cesaria Evora known as the “barefoot diva”, as she could only be seen barefoot on stage. This is a kind of tribute to the poverty in which her fellow countrymen live.

Besides this, Cesaria Evora I have never hidden my love for cigarettes. Once, during a concert in New York, she ignored the strict ban on smoking in the hall and lit a cigarette, which caused thunderous applause from the audience.

In 1988, the album “La Diva Aux Pieds Nus” was released, which brought Cesaria Evora international recognition. Five years later, her disc “Miss Perfumado” sold three hundred thousand copies worldwide.

Cesaria Evora actively participated in charity campaigns. Thanks to her, the primary school system in Cape Verde was completely restored.

In 1995, Cesaria Evora was nominated for a Grammy Award for the first time. Two years later, she won the KORA All African Music award in three categories: “Best West African Artist”, “Best Album” and a special jury prize. In 2004, her album “Voz d'Amor” received a Grammy Award. Cesaria Evora is also a two-time winner of the French music award Victoire de la Musique.

The first performance took place in April 2002 Cesaria Evora in Russia, at the Anatoly Vasiliev Theater on Sretenka. It was a so-called concert for a narrow circle of listeners. A month later, the artist gave another concert at the Maly Theater.

Cesaria Evora She has never been married, but she has three children from different men.

In May 2010 Cesaria Evora gave her last concert in Lisbon. Two days later she had a heart attack, after which the artist was operated on in a Paris hospital. May 16 Cesaria was discharged from the intensive care unit, but in September 2011 her agent announced that she was stopping her concert activities due to health problems.

She moved to her family home in Mindelo, where she died of cardiopulmonary failure and hypertension on December 17, 2011. To the legendary singer Cesaria Evora was seventy years old.

Discography of Cesária Évora

• Nha Sentimento (2009)
• Rogamar (2006)
• Voz d'Amor (2003)
• São Vicente di Longe (2001)
• Cafe Atlantico (1999)
• Cabo Verde (1997)
• Cesaria (1995)
• Miss Perfumado (1992)
• Mar Azul (1991)
• Distino di Belita (1990)
• La Diva Aux Pieds Nus (1988)

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.