Cesária Évora (27 August 1941-17 December 2011), more commonly known as Cize, was a Cape Verdean singer-songwriter. She received a Grammy Award in 2004 for her album Voz d'Amor. Nicknamed the Barefoot Diva for performing without shoes, she was known as the Queen of Morna. Évora began singing as a young woman in bars in her hometown of Mindelo.
Cesária Évora was born on 27 August 1941 in Mindelo, São Vicente, Cape Verde.
When she was seven years old her father, Justino da Cruz Évora, who was a part-time musician, died, and at the age of ten she was placed in an orphanage, as her mother Dona Joana could not raise all six children. At the age of 16, she was persuaded by a friend to sing in a sailors' tavern.
She grew up at the house in Mindelo which other singers used from the 1940s to the 1970s, at 35 Rua de Moeda. Other Cape Verdean singers came to the house, including Djô d'Eloy, Bana, Eddy Moreno, Luis Morais and Manuel de Novas (also known as Manuel d'Novas), and it was there she received her musical education.
In the 1960s, she started singing on Portuguese cruise ships stopping at Mindelo and on the local radio. In 1985, at the invitation of Cape Verdean singer Bana, she went to perform in Portugal. In Lisbon she was discovered by the producer José da Silva and invited to record in Paris.
She recorded the track Ausência, composed by Yugoslav musician Goran Bregovic, which was released as the second track of the soundtrack of the film Underground (1995) by Emir Kusturica.
Évora's international success came only in 1988 with the release of her first commercial album La Diva Aux Pieds Nus, recorded in France. Before that album had been released, she recorded her first LP titled Cesária in 1987. This album was later released on CD in 1995 as Audiophile Legends. Her 1992 album Miss Perfumado sold over 300,000 copies worldwide. It included one of her most celebrated songs, Sodade.
More information: Cesária Évora
In 1994, Bau joined her touring band and two years later, he became her musical director up to September 1999.
Her 1995 album Cesária brought her international success and the first Grammy Award nomination.
In 1997, she won the KORA All African Music Awards in three categories, including Best Artist of West Africa, Best Album and Merit of the Jury.
In 2003, her album Voz d'Amor was awarded a Grammy in the World Music category.
In 2006, Évora met with Alberto Zeppieri, an Italian songwriter, journalist and record producer and agreed to duet with Gianni Morandi, Gigi D'Alessio and Ron. The project, now in its fifth volume, gives visibility and raises funds for the UN World Food Programme, for which Évora was the ambassador from 2003.
Later in 2006, she released her next album Rogamar. It was a success and charted in six European countries including France, Poland and the Netherlands. On her tour in Australia in 2008, she suffered a stroke.
In 2009, she released her final album Nha Sentimento which was recorded in Mindelo and Paris by José da Silva. The album reached number 6 in Poland and number 21 in France.
In 2009, she was made a knightess of the French Legion of Honour by the French Minister of Culture and Communications, Christine Albanel, the first Cape Verdean to become one.
She received her last award at the 2010 Kora All African Music Awards, the Merit of the Jury award for the second time.
In 2010, Évora performed a series of concerts, the last of which was in Lisbon on 8 May. Two days later, after a heart attack, she underwent surgery at a local hospital in Paris.
On the morning of 11 May 2010 she was taken off artificial pulmonary ventilation, and on 16 May she was discharged from the intensive-care unit and transported to a clinic for further treatment. In late September 2011, Évora's agent announced that she was ending her career due to poor health.
On 17 December 2011, aged 70, Évora died in São Vicente, Cape Verde, from respiratory failure and hypertension. A newspaper reported that 36 hours before her death she was still receiving people -and smoking- in her home in Mindelo, popular for always having its doors open.
More information: The Guardian
Sol raiá, lua sai
A mi ausente na terra longe
Oh Mar, oh mar.
Oh sea, year spend time run
sun ray, moon comes out
A mi away on earth far away
Oh sea, oh sea.
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