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#Post#: 4463--------------------------------------------------
R.I.P. Cesaria Evora
DIR By: Mac
Date: December 17, 2011, 12:25 pm
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[glow=red,2,300]Grammy-Winning Singer Cesaria Evora, the
‘Barefoot Diva,’ Dies at 70[/glow]
I happened across hearing of Ms. Evora, at a Barnes & Noble.
They were playing it over the loudspeaker like they typically do
to showcase music and it immediately caught my attention. I love
the soulful, exotic, brazilian sound. She sang in her creole
Portuguese tongue, so I never understood a word she said, but it
was beautiful.
Today is just bad news for soul. Etta James
HTML http://pennycan.createaforum.com/music/etta-james/
is very sick
and not expected to survive.
HTML http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/252/433475.jpg
--- Quote ---
> (LISBON, Portugal) — Cesaria Evora, who started singing as a
teenager in the bayside bars of Cape Verde in the 1950s and won
a Grammy in 2003 after she took her African islands music to
stages across the world, died Saturday. She was 70.
>
> Evora, known as the “Barefoot Diva” because she always
performed without shoes, died in the Baptista de Sousa Hospital
in Mindelo, on her native island of Sao Vicente in Cape Verde,
her label Lusafrica said in a statement on its website. It gave
no further details.
>
> Evora retired in September because of health problems. In
recent years she had had several operations, including
open-heart surgery last year.
>
> She sang the traditional music of the Cape Verde Islands off
West Africa, a former Portuguese colony. She mostly sang in the
version of creole spoken there, but even audiences who couldn’t
understand the lyrics were moved by her stirring renditions, her
unpretentious manner and the music’s infectious beat. Her
singing style brought comparisons to American jazz singer Billie
Holiday. “She belongs to the aristocracy of bar singers,” French
newspaper Le Monde said in 1991, adding that Evora had “a voice
to melt the soul.”
>
> Evora’s international fame came late in life. Her 1988 album
“La Diva Aux Pieds Nus” (“Barefoot Diva”), recorded in France
where she first found popularity, launched her international
career. Her 1995 album “Cesaria” was released in more than a
dozen countries and brought her first Grammy nomination, leading
to a tour of major concert halls around the world and album
sales in the millions.
>
> She won a Grammy in the World Music category of the 2003
awards for her album “Voz D’Amor”.
>
> Evora, known to her close friends as Cize (pronounced
see-ZEH), was the best-known performer of “morna,” Cape Verde’s
national music. It is a complex, soulful sound, mixing an array
of influences arising from the African and seafaring traditions
of the 10 volcanic islands.
>
> Evora was born Aug. 27, 1941, and grew up in Mindelo, a port
city of 47,000 people on the island of Sao Vicente, where
sailors from Europe, America, Africa and Asia mingled in what
was a lively cosmopolitan town with a fabled nightlife. The
local musical style borrowed from those cultures, defying
attempts to classify it. “Our music is a lot of things,” Evora
told The Associated Press in a 2000 interview at her home. “Some
say it’s like the blues, or jazz. Others says it’s like
Brazilian or African music, but no one really knows. Not even
the old ones.”
>
> Evora was 7 years old when her father died, leaving a widow
and seven children. At 10, with her mother unable to make ends
meet, she was placed in an orphanage. “I didn’t like it. I value
my freedom,” she told the AP. At 16, when Evora was doing
piecework as a seamstress, a friend persuaded her to sing in one
of the many sailors’ taverns in her town. As her popularity
grew, she was also rowed out into the bay to sing on anchored
ships. She received no pay — just free drinks. She used to smile
when she recalled her fame as a heavy cognac drinker. And she
sadly recalled the exact day — Dec. 15, 1994 — she had to give
up drinking for her health’s sake.
>
> Evora didn’t think much of her international stardom and she
went back to Mindelo whenever she could. She rebuilt her
childhood home, turning it into a 10-bedroom house where friends
and family often stayed over, and she always made sure she was
home for Christmas. A heavy smoker for decades, Evora was
diagnosed with heart problems in 2005. She suffered strokes in
2008 and in September 2011, when she announced she was retiring.
She had a son and a daughter by different men but never married.
Family details were not immediately available.
>
--- End Quote ---
#Post#: 4466--------------------------------------------------
Re: R.I.P. Cesaria Evora
DIR By: Chiprocks1
Date: December 17, 2011, 12:57 pm
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Yeah, this day isn't turning out rosy for legends in the music
world.
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