Carmen Souza

Carmen Souza 2014 Live in Einbeck

Carmen Souza (born May 20, 1981 in Lisbon , Portugal ) is a jazz singer and songwriter with Cape Verdean roots . She lives in London .

Life

Souza grew up in Lisbon until she was of legal age. Her father went to sea and was therefore often absent for longer periods of time. Their childhood was therefore often marked by a feeling of longing . The musician ascribes the melancholy to many of her compositions to this fact . She grew up in a poverty-stricken quarter of the Portuguese capital and port, where mostly people from the former Portuguese colonies live . As a result, she came into contact with the many musical styles of the former colonial empire early on .

She regularly visits her parents' homeland, as many of her family members still live in Cape Verde. Her mother tongue is therefore Cape Verdean Creole , but she also learned the Portuguese language , which she speaks fluently. In addition to these languages, the musician speaks French, English, Spanish and a little German. Souza gained her first experience as a singer on a stage as a teenager in a gospel choir of her Catholic parish in Lisbon.

plant

Her musical spectrum is just as diverse as the conglomerate of languages ​​she uses in her song texts. As a composer and lyricist, she also makes use of different genres, and she writes the majority of her song lyrics in her mother tongue . During live performances, she also incorporates text passages in the respective national language into the songs she is currently in ( Schnitzelkraut ).

Since their family roots are in the Cape Verde Islands, their music is also strongly influenced by Cape Verde folklore ( Funaná , Morna , Batuku and Mazurka ), which are reminiscent of African or Caribbean rhythms. But also the melancholy of the Portuguese fado , which she got to know in her childhood in Lisbon, Brazilian folklore, as well as the blues and soul have shaped her voice significantly. She names the colored jazz vocalist Nina Simone as a vocal model, but she also interprets songs by Édith Piaf .

When Souza was 17 years old, the bassist Theo Pas'cal, very popular in Portugal, discovered her musical all-rounder and became her producer. Since 2001, the two have also formed a permanent team on stage, which was joined by changing musicians in the following years, mostly in quartets . Souza himself plays various instruments, including guitar , keyboard , piano , Fender Rhodes and a variety of rhythm instruments . Together with Pas'cal, she appeared at many international jazz festivals with a high profile . In autumn 2014 she will tour Europe and present her latest music album Katchupada . In addition to Souza and Pas'cal, the Englishman Ben Burrell ( grand piano ) and Elias Kacomanolis ( percussion ) from Mozambique will play on this tour .

The live presentation of their studio pieces is free and gives the musicians space for extensive solos, but the transition from their songs to well-known melodies is also part of their repertoire . During the encore at the Einbeck concert (2014), for example, she transferred her song Afri Ká to the end of Miriam Makeba's world- wide success Pata Pata .

reception

• Her third album Protegid received a nomination for the German Record Critics' Prize, and was also nominated for the Grammy Award for the best contemporary world music album.
• In February 2014 the radio station WDR 3 named their CD "Live at Lagny Jazz Festival" CD of the week.
• Her current CD Live At Lagny Jazz Festival was nominated for the German Record Critics' Prize.
• The online culture section of the city of Offenburg names it: The new voice of Cape Verde and lists it as an excellent example of the explosive artistic development that jazz is currently experiencing on the fringes of Europe.

Prices

In 2013 Carmen Souza won the title of best female singer and also the award of best Morna performer at the Cape Verdean Cabo Verde Music Awards with her Kachupada album. It is therefore in the direct successor of Cesária Évora .

Festival participation

• North Sea Jazz Festival
• London African Music Festival
• San Francisco Jazz Festival
• Monterey Jazz Festival
• Montreal Jazz Festival
• Leverkusen Jazz Days
• Istanbul International Jazz Festival
• Lagny Jazz Festival

Discography

• 2006: Ess E Nha Cabo Verde
• 2008: Verdade
• 2010: Protegid
• 2011: Carmen Souza Duo feat. Theo Pas'cal - London Acoustic Set
• 2013: Kachupada
• 2014: Live at Lagny Jazz Festival
• 2015: Carmen Souza & Theo Pas'cal - Epistola
• 2017: Creology
• 2019: The Silver Messengers

social commitment

The musicians donated 50% of the proceeds of the CD London Acoustic Set to several charitable organizations: (Abraco / SOS Children Villages / Unicef ​​Brasil Campaign- Racisme)

Web links

Commons : Carmen Souza  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Carmen Souza at Allmusic (English)
• Carmen Souza at Discogs (English)
• Carmen Souza & Band Live at the Satellit Café (Paris 2010) on YouTube
• Carmen Souza’s website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Biography (FranceTvInfo)
2. ↑ website
3. ↑ ^{a b} Cultural section of the city of Offenburg ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ "Heilbronn - Jazzclub" archive link ( memento of the original from October 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
5. ↑ website
6. ↑ WDR 3, CD of the week ( Memento of the original from October 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
7. ↑ "Heilbronn - Jazzclub" archive link ( memento of the original from October 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.