Father, a kind and simple man, was destined to have a too short life. The girl was not even 7 years old when he died. There were, as they say, seven children in the family in the shops. In order to somehow alleviate her plight, her mother sent Cesar to an orphanage.
Having matured and a little stronger, the girl returned home and began to help her mother. She cleaned, washed, washed, cooked, sang, and furtively glanced at photographs of her father, a musician. What feelings they aroused in her is unknown. However, at the age of 14, to the accompaniment of a ukulele in a port tavern, Cesar sang about love for the first time.
Nature endowed the girl with a strong and unique voice that had a special magical timbre. The audience immediately fell in love with the young singer, and always supported her with thunderous applause.
Mindelo, as befits a port town, was famous for its vibrant nightlife. The doors of bars and clubs were open to all regulars and visiting sailors. The music that sounded on the streets and on the beach enchanted with foxtrots and waltzes, sad lyrical songs and incendiary African melodies.Cesaria's chesty and velvety voice was most suitable for the styles popular at that time - morna and coladera. Yes, and the girl herself liked the slow rhythmic melodies, telling about deep feelings, sadness and longing, love and separation.
The first songs of Cesaria Evora
At the age of 17, Cesaria already had her own group of musicians with whom she performed in clubs, gaining an increasing number of fans and earning a living for herself and her family.Her performances were bright and memorable, she knew how to touch the strings of the human soul in such a way that very soon she received universal recognition and love from the people, and the title of "Queen of the Morna" was the highest award.
In 1975, Portugal granted independence to Senegal, which caused the final curtailment of trade in Cape Verde, which had already begun to fade before that. Most of the musicians emigrated in different directions.
When asked about her barefoot image, Cesaria replied that in this way she shows solidarity with African women and children living below the poverty line. The then-famous singer Bana and the Women's Association of Cape Verde repeatedly invited Cesaria to Lisbon to record.
The first to produce Evora was the famous singer, her countryman Tito Paris. The debut of the solo album took place when the barefoot diva turned 43 years old.
It took a lot of work to convince Cesaria to France. Finally, the singer gave up, and José da Silva took her to Paris to record a solo album. This was the beginning of the collaboration with "Lusafrica".
In 1988, the world heard an album called Diva aux Pieds Nus. Further - work on Distino di Belita (1990), and in 1991 the song collection Mar Azul was released.
The world career of the singer Cesaria Evora
In the early 80s, Cesaria went on a tour of Europe with concerts. in 1988 received worldwide recognition and numerous fans. Women her age wanted to be like Cesaria and even went barefoot.The release of the fourth solo album "Miss Perfumadu" (1992) made a splash in the world of morna, modinha, fado. Performing Portuguese folk intertwined with blues and jazz in a Creole dialect, Cesaria Evora became a 52-year-old pop star. In France alone, the number of discs sold was 200,000 copies.
The singer was the owner of the Grammy, Victoire de la Musique, as well as the most prestigious award - the Order of the Legion of Honor, presented to her by French Minister of Culture Christie Albanel. Cesar has recorded 18 albums, has repeatedly been on tour in Russia and Ukraine.
Cesaria Evora's personal life
In her personal life, Cesaria did not find her happiness. First love - black-eyed guitarist Eduardo, set sail from his native shore in search of new adventures, leaving the girl in disappointment and pain.Cesaria longed for a long time. She poured out all the sadness and loneliness in songs. There were novels in the life of the singer, but a person who could be constantly nearby, both in trouble and in joy, Cesaria was not destined to meet.
The greatest joy of her personal life was three wonderful children whom she, like her mother at one time, raised alone.
Interesting facts about Cesaria of Evora
World fame brought Cesaria more than $ 50 million. She did not build luxurious mansions and buy villas in Miami. The singer spent all the money on the maintenance of primary education and the healthcare system of her country.Grateful fellow countrymen wanted to erect a monument to Cesar during her lifetime, but she refused to spend money on perpetuating her person, ordering to give it to her children.
Cesaria Evora died exactly at the age of 70, leaving behind not only unique songs and ballads. She left loyalty to her land, love and compassion for people.
Possessing only one language - Creole, having no special education, she proved that success comes when a person sincerely loves his job and always remains faithful to him.
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"I'm an ordinary woman. Not too happy. Not a rich woman, not a beauty - just a woman, what millions.
Cesaria Evora
- Cesaria Evora was born in 1941 in the city of Mindelo in the Cape Verde Islands, located in the Atlantic Ocean near Africa. Her family was poor, but friendly - Cesaria grew up with 4 brothers. When the girl was 7 years old, her father died. This loss was very difficult for the family, and little Cesaria was especially grieving, because she was her father's favorite. The mother was not able to feed the children alone, so she gave her daughter to an orphanage with Catholic nuns. The 3 years that Cesaria spent there were unbearable for her, because she was deprived of what she valued most - freedom. At the age of 13, she returned home and began to help her mother with the housework.
- In her free time, the girl performed in the bars of her native city. And she sang exclusively in the morna genre. These are traditional songs from the Cape Verde Islands, which are influenced by African motifs, as well as Brazilian and Portuguese rhythms. The name comes either from the English verb to mourn ("to be sad"), or from the Portuguese word morno ("warm"). Cesaria herself spoke about her music like this: “The morna style was woven from everything that surrounded us on the island: the sea, love and longing for something inexplicable.”
- At the age of 16, Cesaria met her first love, the musician and sailor Eduardo João Chalina. They met in a bar where the girl hoped to sing - for free or at least for a few cigarettes. Eduardo heard her voice and was fascinated. True, he noted that she sings too quietly, and advised to be bolder. Later, the man made Evora a local celebrity: he negotiated with the owners of cafes and bars, organized performances and even assembled an ensemble for her. It seemed that happiness was already so close, but soon Eduardo boarded a ship and sailed away from little Mindelo forever, as he had serious plans on the mainland. Cesaria never saw him again.
- For almost 20 years, the singer performed in cafes and restaurants, occasionally appearing on the air of local radio. But Evora dreamed of real fame, she wanted her work to become popular in other countries. Alas, these dreams were not destined to come true soon. In 1975, a political coup took place in the Cape Verde Islands, they finally gained independence from Portugal and received the name of the Republic of Cape Verde. True, these changes led to a severe financial crisis. Cesaria was forced to leave the stage for 10 years, as the songs stopped bringing her money.
- Gradually, life in Cape Verde began to improve, and fellow musicians asked Evora to return to creativity again. Moreover, they persuaded her to go to Lisbon to speak to the Cape Verdian diaspora. It was in the Portuguese capital that Cesaria recorded her first album. At that time she was already 43 years old.
- In one of the restaurants where the singer performed, she was noticed by a Frenchman with Cape Verdian roots named José da Silva. He was amazed by her voice and colorful songs, so he convinced Evora to go with him to France. At 47, Cesaria fulfilled her old dream - she saw the Eiffel Tower.
- José da Silva was right. In Paris, Cesaria was waiting for success, she recorded 3 more albums, which finally broke through the ethnic barrier and brought the singer the fame of "restaurant music aristocrat" - as local journalists called her. The French were captivated by a middle-aged woman with a charming voice, whose songs took them to a completely different world.
- The singer always went on stage barefoot - someone said that it was a kind of tribute to the poverty in which Cesaria's fellow countrymen lived on the Cape Verde Islands. However, Evora herself assured that there was no underlying reason in this habit of hers - she simply did not like to wear shoes. “For so many years I went barefoot, like most of us on the island, and it’s easier for me to sing barefoot,” she said in her interviews. She bought her first pair of shoes specifically for the tour when she was already over 40.
- In the 80s, Cesaria Evora made a tour of Europe, and a few years later she became famous all over the world. She was nicknamed "black Edith Piaf" and "African Billie Holiday". Cesaria asked her to divide her first serious fee into 2 parts: she put half in the bank, and took the other in cash, so that in which case the money would definitely remain with her. True, when a journalist asked what she bought after her triumphant tour, she replied: "A skirt and 2 blouses."
- Fame and wealth did not change Evora at all - she always ironed her dresses herself before concerts and said: "A suite, a good chef and strong espresso - that's all I need." And the singer was never able to quit the bad habit she acquired in her youth - smoking. During her performances, Cesaria always arranged small "smoke breaks". “I love smoking and there is nothing I can do about it. A rich man offered me a new Mercedes if I stopped smoking. As you can see, I still smoke,” the Barefoot Diva laughed.
- In addition to tobacco, Cesaria had another small weakness - gold jewelry. She did not really like huge shopping centers, but during her tours she certainly went into small jewelry stores. According to her, all Cape Verdean women love gold because it is money that is always with you.
- Throughout her career, Cesaria has earned more than $ 50 million, but she was never particularly interested in money. She lived in her parents' house along with numerous relatives, and bought a new house only after everyone no longer fit in the old one. The star never locked the doors, so every resident of the town at any time could go into her house and even treat themselves to kashupa, a traditional Cape Verdian corn soup.
- Surprisingly, the indigenous inhabitant of the Cape Verde Islands did not know how to swim and was very afraid of the waves. The fact is that as a child she saw how a storm washed a man off a cliff, and this memory haunted her all her life. Nevertheless, Evora could not live far from the ocean and said that she needed it to live.
- The diva gave almost all of her huge fees to the needs of Cape Verde. It financed the primary and secondary education system in schools, as well as most of the health care in the country. At the same time, she herself assured that her help does not have a national scale, and she helps only individual people: “I can help a specific child, a specific mother who has a sick child. Many are asking for help. Yes, for my country I am the most famous and wealthy, but what I do, I do exclusively as a private person.
- In fact, of course, the star was modest. She really helped a huge number of compatriots. Moreover, thanks to her, the whole world learned about the tiny republic scattered over the islands of the Atlantic Ocean. Cape Verde has become a member of the UN, WHO and many other significant international organizations.
The port bar is smoky and crowded. On the stage, a barefoot dark-skinned girl sings about great love, about separation. She believes that one day happiness will come to her, and does not know that in four decades she, still barefoot and believing in him, will clap in crowded halls around the world ...
If not for Cesaria Evora, the former Cape Verde Islands (and today the Republic of Cape Verde) would have remained a line in history and geography textbooks. And only rare travelers, lovers of getting away from civilization, could tell about 18 islands in the Atlantic Ocean, not far from the west coast of Africa.
But, having stepped onto the stage, Cesaria was able to tell us, who had not seen those edges, about her native land, where the gentle sun, which warmed the sand of endless beaches all day, rolls into a huge ocean, where the wind rustles among the branches, whispering to lovers about the imminent separation, and where women sing, whose lovers have already left their native lands, hoping to find a better life. And songs about separation, about still possible or already unrealizable happiness, a melody of light sadness, wrapped in timid hope and heart-rending melancholy, float beyond the horizon - a thin line between the azure sky and the turquoise ocean. Maybe these sounds will overcome the surface of the water and fly to those loved ones who are now far away ...
SEA FALSE
The women of Cape Verde have been singing about this for a long time, because they knew well what separation is. Back in the 16th century, the Portuguese landed on the islands, turning them into their colony, and began to take slaves across the Atlantic. At the end of the 19th century, slavery was abolished on these lands, but this did not greatly improve the social status of the local residents. Rare rains did not allow agriculture, there were no rich deposits of minerals either, the power on the island still belonged to the Portuguese. More and more men dreamed of a better life and boarded ships to cross the ocean from foreign lands to send pennies that would help save their families from starvation. More and more women remained in poverty with many children, peering into the horizon in the evenings and pouring out longing for their loved ones in songs. Mornas - this is how these musical laments were called - one of the most common genres on the island.
Cesaria's mother also sang sadness to the wind more than once when there was one cake for six children in the house. Little Cesaria also recognized this sadness. First, when she lost her father at the age of seven, and then when the same grimy unfortunates in the orphanage became her new family - unable to feed the children on their own, the mother gave them to an orphanage.
The girl missed her real family, but tried not to lose hope that happiness would one day find her. “I must have been born with such a good mood,” she would later say. “I really loved to sing, and music helped me live with a smile.” No one taught her musical notation - however, the usual one also remained incomprehensible to her: in Cape Verde during her childhood there was no time for schools. She will remain uneducated until the end of her life, having learned only a few simple phrases in order to sign postcards to fans: "From Cesaria with love."
AT THE AGE OF SEVEN, CAESARIA LOST FATHER, AND SOON WAS IN A CHILDREN'S SHELTER
Much later, having become a world-class singer, she will not leave her homeland completely, she will help the families of the poor and the inhabitants of shelters, opening her heart to everyone who comes to her with their sadness. But this is still very far away, but for now, Evora has her little joys and troubles. To earn at least a little for a living, she goes to the port part of her native Mindelo, where there are taverns on the coast. By 1958, it cannot be said that there was an ideal place to live, but in comparison with other cities it was more successful. Ships from all over the world arrived at the port, and sailors who missed the land went to establishments to have a drink. Not everyone understood what the 17-year-old girl was singing about, because she knew only the local dialect - Cape Verdian Creole, a dialect of the Portuguese language. But ordinary guys listened to her with their hearts, because another lover will always understand a love story, no matter what language it sounds in.
WHEN WORDS ARE NOT IMPORTANT
“MUSIC IS A UNIVERSAL MEANS OF COMMUNICATION. EVEN IF YOU DON'T KNOW THE LANGUAGE, YOU STILL LISTEN TO HER AND UNDERSTAND. PEOPLE SPEAK THE LANGUAGE OF RHYTHMS"
“In our repertoire there are mainly two well-known Cape Verdian styles: mornas and coladeres. The listener remembers more mornas - sad songs-ballads about love, about how someone is sad in separation. There are also koladers - they are critical, even satirical. Perhaps someone did something not very beautiful or not very correct, and we make a story out of it, turn it into a song. Almost every album has both morns and coladeers.”
Cesaria has released 18 albums in 24 years. The first - Distino di belta - was recorded back in 1987, but did not receive wide popularity. The latest was the compilation Nha Sentimento in 2009. And the 15th album, Voz de Amor, released in 2003, brought the performer a Grammy Award the next.
And Cesaria sang with her soul - only the first feeling came to her, but the long-awaited happiness did not come. The handsome guitarist left the island, like many men, in search of a better life. And Evora knew how to tell from the stage on behalf of all women who love and wait, and this touched the soul of any listener. As well as the history of a difficult life in poverty - who, if not ordinary sailors, understand what is "not a penny for the soul."
But there she also acquired a habit of drinking that would stay with her until 1994. “Music for visitors was an accompaniment to intimate conversation over a glass of grog. I was treated, and I got involved. It seemed that alcohol saves from heavy thoughts, she admitted. - For some time I could not go on stage without taking a sip of cognac. Fortunately, she managed to defeat this addiction and did not use anything stronger than water. ”
SEE PARIS
But that, too, would come later, and while Cesaria remained in Mindelo, she sang to the visitors and drank with them, listening to tales of distant lands. Her music began to appear on the air of local radio, her compatriots already knew her name. So twenty years passed, but she did not stop believing that one day happiness would come to her, real, full, and she would have the opportunity to hear the applause of not only bar visitors. “You will be surprised, but I expected that one day success would happen to me. I sang in the bars of Mindelo for many foreigners and saw that they liked my music. Then I thought that if one day I go abroad, others will also like what I do. And as you can see, she was right, ”she will say many years later. And he will add that once one of the sailors gave her a keychain in the form of the Eiffel Tower. Then Evora told herself that one day she would definitely go to Paris and look at this tower with her own eyes.
BEST LATER
"THE CHARM OF CESARIA EVORA, HER VOICE RICH IN WARM TONES, AS ALWAYS TOUCHES US" - FRENCH NEWSPAPER LA VIE
- 1993 - the triumph of the singer in France. The first concerts were sold out at the main venue of the country - Olympia;
- In 1995, the Cesaria disc released in France becomes "gold", and in the USA - a bestseller (150 thousand copies);
- She sang the tango for Kusturica's "Underground" and memorably covered Besame Mucho for "Great Expectations".
But for now, her dreams of glory, light and strong as an ocean wave, nearly shattered as they hit the rock of reality. In 1974, the Portuguese-ruled Cape Verde Islands finally dared to carry out their long-cherished plan: to become independent. The regime was overthrown, an agreement on independence was signed, but this could not make the cherished dreams of a good life come true. The situation of the state that gained independence and renamed the Republic of Cape Verde became even worse. Cesaria also felt this: much fewer ships moored in the port, and the inhabitants of the islands were no longer up to songs and fun in taverns. “My life has never been calm. Music helped me earn a living. And when singing ceased to bring money, I stopped singing, she will say about that period. - These were the most difficult years. I'm glad they were left behind and I was able to go on stage again." This happened only after 10 years of her silence and happened thanks to friends. Life in Cape Verde began to improve, the musicians returned to creativity again, now and then begging Evora to do a favor and record a duet. One after another, these duets marked the beginning of a new stage in her life.
The compatriots who arranged life in Lisbon called the singer there more than once. There was a large Cape Verdian diaspora, and the Portuguese were ready to help the inhabitants of the Islands. Finally, she decides to travel. Cesaria is 46 years old and is recording her first album. As long as her songs do not go beyond the diaspora, her compatriots, yearning for home and the tunes of their homeland, listen to her. But in one of the restaurants, Evora was noticed by a Frenchman with Cape Verdian roots, Jose da Silva. Struck by the color and beauty of the songs, he convinced Cesaria to go with him to France in order to achieve success there. The performer did not hesitate for long, remembering her long-standing dream of seeing the Eiffel Tower.
LITTLE SECRETS
Jose wasn't wrong. In Paris, Evora recorded three more albums, and the third, Magic Azur (1991), broke through the ethnic barrier and earned her the title of "restaurant music aristocrat", as Cesaria was called by the local press. France sees a barefoot, middle-aged woman on stage, who, with her songs, takes listeners to a completely different world. “The morne style is woven from everything that surrounds us on the island: the sea, love and longing for something inexplicable,” she says about her music and her homeland.
They want to hear it in all corners of France, Cesaria goes on tour and every time she goes on stage silent and barefoot. She does not conduct dialogues with the public, does not put on a show and does not put on shoes. This is how the first myths are born that Evora deliberately does not communicate with the audience so that it would not be difficult for the audience to switch when she sings in an unfamiliar language. In fact, everything was more banal: since childhood, not taught to read and write, Cesaria was not given languages.
“WHEN SINGING STOP MONEY, I STOP SINGING. THESE WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT YEARS"
“And even later they came up with the myth that I perform barefoot, expressing solidarity with the poor of my country. Nothing like that, I just don't like wearing shoes. For so many years I went barefoot, like most of us on the island, and it’s easier for me to sing barefoot,” she says. Open and honest, she conquered the audience with her sincerity. “I think it's all because I sing with an open soul,” she smiles when the Miss Perfumado album, released the following year, will bring her worldwide recognition.
The 50-year-old singer, nicknamed the Barefoot Diva, will go to concerts around the world, and soon there will be practically no corners where her mornas would not sound. She will be called "black Edith Piaf" and "African Billie Holiday", but Cesaria's attitude to life will remain as simple as before. “A suite, a good chef and a strong espresso are all I need,” she says of her rider.
And also - an ironing board and an iron in the room, because preparing a costume for a performance with her own hands will remain her unchanging tradition. Without embarrassment, she will show journalists the burns on her hands. “I do not avoid work,” she repeated. - Glory has not changed my life. Long before I became famous, I was surrounded by different people - rich and poor, close and unfamiliar. I grew up in poverty, having nothing in my soul, and now I continue to be true to myself, which I was. Today's success cannot change me."
In fact, she has not changed much, leaving herself even a bad habit acquired in her youth - smoking. Even at concerts, Evora arranged a “smoke break”, taking a savory puff just on stage, if circumstances allowed. “I love smoking and there is nothing I can do about it. An influential person once offered me an expensive Mercedes just for giving up cigarettes. As you can see, I still smoke,” she laughed.
And there was another small weakness that Cesaria allowed herself to become successful - gold jewelry. Traveling around the world, she avoided large shopping centers, afraid of their luxury, but she always went into small jewelry stores. “Women of Cape Verde, like all women of Africa, love gold - and only gold. This is money that is always with you. And I don’t wear diamonds, we consider them lost money, because they can’t be sold,” she explains.
DO NOT NEED MUCH
She did not buy mansions for herself in other countries, she invariably returned from tours to Cape Verde, continuing to live in the same house as her mother. “This place has forever remained the only refuge where I want to return,” she explained. And in the courtyard of this house they always kept food that any poor person in need of food could take. Just like going into her house and asking for help.
“Many say that I pay for the entire education system in Cape Verde, but this does not correspond to reality,” Evora refused her laurels. - What I spend on education has no national background. I can help a specific child, a specific mother who has a sick child and needs medicine, a specific person whose house was destroyed by lightning. Many are asking for help. Yes, for my country I am the most famous and wealthy, but what I do, I do exclusively as a private person. Ah, here's something else. There is an association that is called "Cesaria". It belongs to myself and my producer José da Silva. We are systematically engaged in helping talented children to develop their musical talents. This is a completely targeted support for the small talents of Cape Verde. I don't know how many of these children there are, but definitely not thousands. About my support for education at the national level in the Republic - this is just a beautiful myth.
However, these myths did not arise out of nowhere. Cesaria actually helped a huge number of Cape Verdians, and even the whole country - thanks to her, the whole world heard about a small state scattered across the islands of the Atlantic. The country became a member of the UN, WHO and other international organizations, which gives residents real help, tourists from all over the world began to come, and this helps to support the budget of Cape Verde. But not only the world gave something to her homeland, Cesaria herself gave - the world much more: the opportunity, listening to her songs, to dream of sunrises met on the ocean with her beloved, the hope with which you see him off, and the bright sadness with which you wait for the return .
She spoke little of her lovers, but always with touching embarrassment. “I have three children from different men, but I have never been married. Now I am surrounded by my relatives - children, grandchildren, some of them stay with me, some visit. But this is what makes me happy, I don’t need more from life, ”the elderly woman smiled. And she sang about those simple things that make everyone and us happy: “To be born in your laughter, / To grieve in your crying, / To live behind your shoulder / And die in your arms.”
She passed away in December 2011, she was 70 years old. Shortly before that, she said: “Having lived to almost 70, I understand that all my dreams have come true and there are no new ones anymore. I'm waiting for God to take me and I'll say to everyone: "Goodbye!" These are normal thoughts at my age, because at the same time I know how to enjoy every day.
And until the last day, Cesaria Evora lived in an old house, smoked cigarettes and received guests, meeting everyone with a smile. She comprehended the wisdom of life, which consisted in the fact that hope should be endless, love - long-suffering, longing - bright, sympathy - sincere.
FACTS ABOUT CESARIA EVORE
“FOR ME, ALL HALLS ARE THE SAME: SMALL OR HUGE. EVERYWHERE I SING WITH THE SAME FEELING"
- Born August 27, 1941 in Mindelo (Saint Vincent Island, Republic of Cape Verde);
- Two-time winner of the highest French award Victoire de la Musique, five times nominated for a Grammy;
- On February 6, 2009, Cesaria was awarded the French Legion of Honor;
- She died on December 17, 2011 in her homeland in Cape Verde from cardiopulmonary insufficiency and arterial hypertension.
On Saturday, December 17, Cesaria Evora passed away at the age of 70. The world-famous singer from the Cape Verde Islands, whose fame came at the age of 47, sang all her songs in Creole (Cesaria did not know English). However, the meaning of her compositions about love and separation was clear to everyone who fell under the magic of the timbre of the most famous native of Cape Verde.
EVORA CESARIA (Evora Cesaria) (b. August 27, 1941, Mindelo, Cape Verde), folk singer from Cape Verde (Cape Verde Islands, West Africa); performer of Portuguese folk combined with blues and jazz.
The singer's father died early, leaving his wife with seven children. In Mindelo, the most popular musical genres were then considered morna and coladera - slow and rhythmic songs expressing nostalgia, love, sadness and longing. With a strong and emotional voice most suited to these styles, Cesaria quickly found her niche in Mindelo's musical life and, through regular and memorable performances, soon won the title of "Queen of the Morna". With musicians, she moved from club to club, giving concerts.
In the mid 1980s. José Da Silva, a young Frenchman of native origin, persuaded Cesaria to go to Paris with him to record a record. So in 1988 the first album of the singer "La Diva aux Pieds Nus" was released. The song from him Bia Lulucha, mixed with the Zulu flavor, became a famous hit in Cape Verde. On October 1 of the same year, she gave the first performance in her life at the New Morning Club in Paris in front of a small audience. The next album was "Distino di Belita" (1990) and "Mar Azul" (1991). However, real recognition came only in 1992 with the release of the album "Miss Perfumado". In France alone, the album sold over 200,000 copies. A wave of passion for the sea has rolled all over the world.
In 1994, Caetano Veloso sang with Cesaria at a performance in São Paulo. Cesaria's performances were triumphant in Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Switzerland, Africa and the West Indies. Through the mediation of the label Lusafrica, she was signed by the record company BMG, as a result of which the compilation Sodade, Les Plus Belles Mornas De Cesaria, was released this fall.
The album "Cesaria" (1995) was nominated for a Grammy Award and named "Best Album of the Year" by more than a dozen central American publications. Cesaria performed ten concerts at Le Bataclan (Paris) and then flew out on her first US tour. And Goran Bregovic invited her to record the track Ausencia for Emir Kusturica's film Underground. In 1997, the next album "Cabo Verde" was released, and in 1999 - "Cafe Atlantico".
In 2003 Evora visited Russia with concerts
About seven years ago, the world said goodbye to the popular original singer Cesaria Evora, but the image of the “barefoot grandmother” with a bewitching low voice, who sang heartfelt sad songs about love and distant homeland, is still remembered all over the world. The nugget singer from the Cape Verde Islands (Cape Verde) was a great original not only in her work, but also in life. However, her quirks were very touching, sweet and childlike.
1. Passion for bright long nails
Very long bright nails were Cesaria's trademark. She usually dyed them burgundy or some other dark shade. Such an aggressive, catchy manicure, it would seem, did not at all fit with her image of a simple barefoot diva from the people, however, the elderly singer very carefully monitored her nails and certainly painted them that way. And it went back to the time of her youth, when she lived poorly and she had very bad teeth. So that during the performance this shortcoming was not so conspicuous, the singer deliberately switched the attention of the audience to her hands with bright nails.
Having grown rich, Cesaria, of course, made herself good teeth, but until the end of her life she did not change the style of manicure, because this was already part of her image and attitude.
2. The more cosmetics and perfumes, the better.
And in the dressing rooms on tour, and at home, Evora always had a lot of bottles of perfume, creams, perfumes. She used all this very actively - both with or without reason. Bringing beauty in front of a mirror was a real ritual for her.
3. She smoked cigars and cigarettes
Cesaria Evora smoked a lot, moreover, everything - cigars, cigarettes, pipes. She could smoke even during a concert, which would be more suitable for a young rock musician, but not for a lyrical singer of advanced years. By the way, she also abused alcohol: when Cesaria sang in bars in her youth, grateful visitors constantly treated her to strong drinks, and over time, the habit of knocking over a glass or two turned into addiction. Only in the last years of her life did she give up alcohol due to serious health problems.
But Cesaria never quit smoking. Her producer even tried to "bribe" the singer, promising to give her a chic Mercedes in exchange for giving up tobacco. Cesaria really wanted this car and even tried not to smoke for a while, but in the end she still broke down.
4. She could iron clothes for hours
Concert organizers and journalists have repeatedly paid attention to the funny eccentricity of the great singer. Cesaria demanded that there must be a good iron in her room, and before the concert she could iron her outfits for hours. She did it fanatically and seemed to find some kind of outlet in the manipulation of the iron. Sometimes Cesaria was so carried away by the process that she burned herself, for which she often laughed at herself.
5. Walk barefoot
Cesaria always performed barefoot, she liked to go without shoes in everyday life, and if she did, it was, as a rule, simple slippers on her bare feet. In cool rainy weather, she could put on a jacket, a warm scarf and shales, and often flaunted in this form even while touring in big cities.
They say that she went barefoot for the sake of convenience: the fact is that in recent years the singer's legs hurt very badly. Well, Cesaria herself repeated more than once in an interview that this was just a tribute to tradition, because she was used to walking like that since childhood. In her homeland, people live very poorly and it is not uncommon to meet a barefoot person on the street.
6. Sleep on the floor
From early childhood until her old age, Cesaria lived in an old house with her numerous relatives. She was a hospitable and hospitable person, and in addition to how her family grew, Evora simply made additions to the house. Cesaria acquired a new large house only when she realized that the old one simply could not accommodate all the tenants.
Even being already a world celebrity, Evora lived simply. At home she wore an apron with many pockets, in which, like any village housewife, she kept a lot of useful things, and she loved to feed her family and guests, like a typical kind grandmother.
And she also liked to take a nap right on the floor, opening the front door and listening to the much-loved sounds of her native street.
7. Leopard outfits and lots and lots of gold
The "folk" singer Cesaria Evora was very simple, direct and not at all glamorous, however, in addition to her passion for flashy manicures, she also had another funny quirk. Cesaria liked to buy gold jewelry in large quantities and wore it constantly. Several chains flaunted around her neck at once, and massive gold bracelets and rings adorned her hands.
In addition, she liked bright clothes and especially all shades of leopard. Such spotted scarves, skirts, blouses were an integral part of her image.
8. She gave all her money to others.
It often happens that people who grew up in poverty, having become rich, begin to be very sensitive to money, but Cesaria was not like that. Even after becoming a highly paid world celebrity, she did not learn how to live solidly and make profitable investments, like other "stars".
Evora did not value money and distributed it to everyone who needed it, but she made the largest donations to the education and medicine of her native country, greatly replenishing the budget of a small semi-impoverished state. After all, she loved her people so much!
