Cesária Évora

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Mindelo, Cape Verde (1941 – 2011)

Cesária Évora, born 27 August 1941 in the port town of Mindelo, Cape Verde, on the island of São Vicente - 17 December 2011, was a notable folk singer. She was 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 , a soulful genre (related with the Portuguese ) sung in Creole-Portuguese, she mixed 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 spoke of the country’s 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, highlighted her emotional phrasing by accenting a word or phrase. Even audiences who do not understand her language could be 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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