Cesaria evora family. The five best songs of cesaria evora

I knew that she was 70 years old, that she was very ill, that she had severe diabetes, that she sang barefoot not out of solidarity with the poor women of Africa, as the mass media like to write, but because no shoes fit on her sick and swollen feet. (in her rider there was a mandatory supply of a wheelchair to the gangway of the plane and that the dressing room was on the same floor as the stage - she could not climb the stairs). I knew that one of her eyes did not see at all, and the second was very bad, that two years ago she had a stroke, and a year ago she had an open heart operation, that in the autumn before a concert in Paris she became ill, and she announced her graduation concert activity. “I just didn’t have any more strength left,” she told reporters. I knew all this, but when I heard about her death on December 17, I almost burst into tears. And my musician friend, drunk, called from Israel and sobbed into the phone for ten minutes.

Why did this clumsy, tastelessly dressed, from head to toe hung with gold trinkets, semi-literate (she practically could neither read nor write), an elderly woman without special vocal abilities, who, moreover, sang carelessly, inaccurately and indifferently, penetrated everyone so much? Why for people who are receptive to music, for those who, as the French say, have a “thin palate”, her singing was completely irresistible and was perceived literally as a fact of personal biography? I'll try to say something about it today, but really nothing can be explained here. Sorry for the banality, but the magic of talent and the miracle of art defy any logical explanation.

For starters, I'll play you a song that you all must have heard, and I'll tell you how I heard it for the first time. It was in Paris, in the early spring of 2000. My wife Marisha and I were walking around the city, and at one point she, like any normal woman, naturally wanted to walk around some huge multi-storey department store, and I, like any normal man, with all my heart hating shopping in all its manifestations and realizing that this case could drag on for a long time, I stayed downstairs in a small cafeteria. I really had to sit there for an hour and a half, and all this time the young bartender behind the counter played the same song over and over again on his boombox. And no one got tired of it. And even when Marisha returned, we did not leave right away, but listened to her several more times.

1. Nho antone escaderode

A lot of time has passed since then. During the reporting period, I listened to this song, which I simply called to myself “Antoshka-deroshka”, countless times, but, just preparing for this evening, I bothered to think about what it actually sings about. Let me tell you, it was very difficult to find out. As you know, Evora sang in the Creole dialect of Portuguese, which even the Portuguese have difficulty understanding. The text in Creole was found on the Internet, and after an extremely long search, even two translations into English and one into French were found, and all three were quite different from each other. Fortunately, there are very few lyrics in this song. As almost always with Évora, it's a repetitive two verses and a chorus. And if you try to bring the English and French translations to some common denominator, then the song sings something like this: “When I first came to Ribeira Grande (this is such a town in Portugal), I had a nice time in one eatery. There were three of us, and we got so drunk on rum punch that we lost control of ourselves and began to walk like a twisted señor Antosh. And it's all. And in the chorus, the name and surname are simply repeated - Antosh Escaderosh. Who this is is not specified in the song.

In general, the lyrics of Evora's songs are a separate story, and we'll talk about them later. But first, for the sake of order, a little biography. Cesaria Evora was born on August 27, 1941 in the city of Mindelo on the island of Sao Vicente of the Cape Verde archipelago, which in Russian was more often called the Cape Verde Islands - a Portuguese colony located 600 km west of the coast of Senegal. A little more than 400 thousand people live on these nine inhabited islands today (for comparison: this is about two times less than in the Moscow Northern District).

Her father, who was a musician and played the violin and cello, died early, leaving his wife with seven children. Cesaria recalled her childhood as follows: “We did not starve, we were just very poor, like many in Mindelo. The main income for the family was brought by my brothers, who worked abroad. In addition, we rented out part of the house, and my grandmother kept a garden where she grew watermelons, corn, and beans. Gathering a small crop, we always laid it out in piles and divided it among our neighbors.” Nevertheless, soon Mother Cesaria was forced to give little Sisi to an orphanage. It is in this charitable institution that our heroine first joins music and singing - she sings in the orphanage choir.

From the age of sixteen, Cesaria already sang in the bars of her native Mindela, she sang with pleasure, and everyone around her was very praised. At the same time, she falls in love with a local sailor, Eduardo, who teaches her local songs, many of which were composed by her own uncle, known under the pseudonym B. Leza, and later they fully entered her repertoire. Cesaria quickly found her niche in the musical life of the islands and, thanks to regular and memorable performances, soon won the title of "Queen of the Morna". We will talk about what a morna is. But a real professional career did not work out: no records, no fees ... Two recordings of her radio performances were released in the late 1960s - one in Portugal, the other in the Netherlands, where there were many emigrants from the Islands, but they went unnoticed. Yes, there is still an unhappy personal life and, as a result, very serious problems with alcohol ...

In a word, by the mid-70s, Cesaria completely abandoned music, plunged into the typical worries of a single mother (she has several children from different men, and she has never been married). In addition, in 1975, the Cape Verde Islands gained independence from Portugal, and although, unlike neighboring Angola, this happened without a bloody civil war, it did not bring anything good, because a pro-communist government came to power. Under the damned colonialists, the Cape Verde Islands were an extremely poor country, but still, in Mindelo, like in most port cities, nightlife was in full swing, music was playing everywhere - in clubs, on the streets, on the beach. All styles were in vogue: ballads, waltzes, foxtrots, controversy. However, love, and sadness, and funny, humorous, festive pictures - the islanders expressed all this range of feelings and moods in morns and coladeiras - local songs for all occasions. With musicians loyal to her, Cesaria moved from club to club, from island to island, playing concerts and earning a living for herself and her family.

But with the deliverance from colonial oppression and the coming to power of home-grown communists, the previously poor economy of the country, which was based solely on the tourism business, simply ceased to exist. A real famine began in the country, and most of the population was forced to emigrate. It must be said that even now much more people live in the Cape Verdian diaspora than in, so to speak, the metropolis. Naturally, cultural life also fell into complete decline.

Unlike many, Evora did not leave the country, but, so to speak, went headlong into internal emigration. These were the most difficult ten years of her life. She completely stopped singing, practically did not leave the house, she drank a lot and soundly. Almost ten years passed so bleakly and depressingly, and only in the mid-80s, when she was already over forty and the country woke up a little from hibernation, she sang again. And then it suddenly turned out that half of the Cape Verdian singers consider her their teacher.

In the mid-eighties, Cesaria, as part of a large delegation of Cape Verdian musicians, traveled outside the islands for the first time in her life. This trip was organized by some mysterious and semi-mythical organization - the Women's Committee of Cape Verde. Evora's path lay in Lisbon. What happened with this trip, history is silent, but it is known that Cesaria stayed in Lisbon, sang in the evenings in restaurants, collecting money for a return ticket. Either she felt sad in Mother Europe, or the concerts did not work out. In a word, she decided to leave for her homeland. Fortunately for her and ours, one evening when she sang at the Enclave restaurant, the French producer José da Silva looked in there. However, he was French only by passport, and was born and raised on the same Cape Verde Islands. Actually, at that time he still only dreamed of becoming a producer, but for now he worked at night as a lineman.

Nevertheless, if this meeting had not happened, then we, most likely, would never have known that there is a singer Cesaria Evora in the world.

Jose immediately realized what kind of diamond fell into his hands. He brought Cesaria to Paris, organized a professional recording for her, then another. Soon the first albums appeared: in 1987 - Distino De Bilita ("The Fate of a Beauty") and in 1988 - Diva Aux Pieds Nus ("Barefoot Diva"). However, these albums were little like what we learned later. These were primitive disco arrangements with synth drums and almost no live instruments. All this completely nullified the sincerity and emotionality of Evora's inimitable voice. They had little success, but only at dance parties from the Cape Verde Islands. However, gradually, through trial and error, Jose da Silva found that unique acoustic sound that subsequently conquered the whole world. He managed to find the right musicians - mostly natives of Cape Verde. The electronic sound was done away with once and for all. And Europe fell in 1991, when the album Mar Azul (“Azure Sea”) was released. Da Silva placed Cesaria in an environment familiar and understandable to her - a small acoustic ensemble (guitars and obligatory cavaquinho - rhythmic 4-string guitar, acoustic bass, percussion, violin, piano, saxophone, trumpet), the absence of complex arrangements and prepared forms, plus a completely live recording without overdubs - in this mode the whole album was recorded in two days! And success came.

The title song of the album, which, by the way, was written by Cesaria Evora's uncle B. Leza, already mentioned today, was played on French radio stations day and night. Let's listen to it now. The text is extremely simple, uncomplicated and poetic:

Sea! Take me to my country
To the country where my mother is waiting for me
Where everyone misses me!

Sea! I believe you!
Crescent, light my way
To the land where I spent my childhood.
San Vicente, your arms are my cradle...

Sea! And how many years have passed
As before, the moon is shining, and I was so far away!

Now, perhaps, it's time to talk a little about the genres of Evora's songs. Almost everything she sang can be divided into two groups - the already mentioned morns and coladeiras. Without going into details, it is easiest to characterize these two groups as follows: morna is a slow sad song, coladeira is a fast sad song. Stylistically, this music is a mixture of Portuguese fada and Brazilian bossa nova, superimposed on a whimsical African polyrhythm. From fada, Cape Verdian music inherited mainly a general melancholic mood, the utmost simplicity of harmonies, traditional melodic and harmonic moves of European music, and a deep hopeless minor. There are very few songs written in major in Evora's repertoire, and they are located on the periphery of her work. From bossanova, which, on the contrary, is a relatively young, complex, harmonically refined and sophisticated style, Cape Verdian music has taken constant swing and syncopation, but has given them its own coloring. In this sense, an episode from a documentary about Evora is very indicative, when she comes to the studio in New York to advanced American jazzmen, who ate the dog on the most complex jazz harmonies and all sorts of rhythmic tricks. They try to accompany her simple songs, but nothing comes of them. They fail to catch the subtle rhythmic shift of her singing. They do not coincide with it in movement, in tempo-rhythm, they cannot, as the musicians say, “get into it” - the music falls apart.

But back to morns and coladeiras. Only very few of Évora's songs can be called folklore - almost every one has attributed authors. But in the end, all folklore songs once had authors, only they were forgotten over the years. And the folklore of Cape Verde is still so young that the authors have not been forgotten.

We have just listened to the classical morna. Morna in Portuguese means "soft", "warm". This definition can equally apply to air, water, touch, heart or soul. Morna means "word" in Creole. The author of the first mornas is considered to be the outstanding poet Eugenio Tavaris, who lived at the end of the 19th - the first third of the 20th century. Initially, these were poems, mainly dedicated to parting with their native home, farewell to the fishermen who go to sea, longing for their homeland. All this contains the Portuguese word saudade, modified into the Creole sodade. The closest Russian word to it in meaning is longing. But in a good way this word has no analogues either in French, or in English, or in Russian. This is some unimaginable mixture of nostalgia, melancholy and tenderness, a sense of loss of the present.

Melodically, harmonically, and even in mood, many morns are somewhat surprisingly similar to our gypsy romances.

Koladeira, while maintaining the same melancholy minor scale as a whole, is a more genre, dance and plot song. Although it must be said that there is very little text in both morns and coladeiras - usually it is one or two verses and a chorus that are repeated many times. Let's now listen and see one collider from the same album "Mar Azul". I will say right away that the translation of this song could not be found, but it seems that it is not really needed. True, I seemed to be able to understand one phrase myself. This is the phrase "oh mother, escuse vergonya" - "mother, forgive me, shameless." The song is called "Let's dance cha-cha-cha".

3. Cinturao Tem Mele Danca Tcha Tcha Tcha

I hope you noticed an unshaven pianist in a hat and black glasses? This man's name is Paulinho Veyera, and he played as much, if not more, a role in creating the acoustic sound of Evora than José da Silva. He owns almost all the arrangements on Evora's first five acoustic albums. And on studio recordings of many songs, he performs almost all the parts - piano, guitar, cavaquinho, harmonica, percussion - in a word, a man-orchestra.

A year after the album Mar Azul in 1992, the album Miss Perfumado (“Perfumed”) was released, which became a real bomb. In France alone, 200,000 copies were sold in the first month. Despite the fact that, for my taste, this album was generally weaker than the previous one. But on it there are two completely armor-piercing hits, without which not a single Evora concert could do later - these are the songs “ Sodade” and “ Angola”. They have become her calling cards. Of course, we will now watch and listen to them.

I have at least five versions of these songs in my video and sound library, and each of them has its own zest, but I still decided to stop at that live concert in the Bataclan club in Paris in 1995, an excerpt from which you have seen today. Largely in order to show you in all its glory the wonderful guitarist Armando Tito. Unfortunately, in the future, their paths with Evora diverged, as I believe, largely due to the fact that it was difficult for two such bright artists to get along on the same stage. Now we will look at these two things in a row. But for the sake of order, a few words about the texts, which are again very short, not to say lapidary.

Who showed you this long way?
Who showed you this long way to Sao Tome?
Longing, longing, longing for my homeland of San Nicolau.

If you write to me, I will answer you.
If you forget me, I will forget you too
Until the day we meet again.

"Angola" is even shorter:

What a wonderful country!
What funny people!
Dances and songs day and night.
But I won't die of pleasure because I can't stay here for long.

The next two years were devoted mainly to touring. In 1994, the album "Sodad" was released, consisting mainly of old songs - in general, not very successful. But this year, a landmark event takes place in the life of Evora - she stopped drinking. Previously, she not only drank a lot, as they say, in life (moreover, she preferred strong drinks - rum and cognac), but also allowed herself to drink directly during concerts, so, by her own admission, sometimes by the end of the concert she didn’t knit at all bast. I don’t know to what extent this is related to withdrawal, but literally a year later she released an absolutely amazing album under the modest name Cesaria, which, of course, can be called one of Evora’s best albums in general. If the success of her previous albums rested mainly on two or three hits, then practically every song here is a masterpiece. But it's not only that. Paulinho Veyera and José da Silva finally found Evora's optimal studio sound, which remained unchanged until the very end, although the musicians and arrangers subsequently changed several times. And one more important point: if the first four albums were dominated by viscous morns (for example, there is not a single coladeira on the Sodad album), now coladeira comes to the fore, and this makes the albums brighter, because musically, stylistically and rhythmically coladeira is still richer. And a kind of rhythmic counterpoint is especially clearly manifested in them, when, against the backdrop of a rhythm section working at a frantic pace, Evora’s completely unhurried and even a little sleepy and lazy voice sounds, which, if you listen carefully, nevertheless turns out to be on some an elusive beat ahead of the accompaniment and does not always coincide with it on strong beats.

This album became a "gold disc" in France, and with it Evora flew to her first US tour, where he was nominated for a Grammy. The entire New York musical elite, including David Bowie and Madonna, gathered to see her "live" in New York's Bottom Line concert hall, and the latter, according to stories, even canceled her own concert for this. But, perhaps, the most important indicator of Evora's success in the States was the fact that applause was heard in the hall when she, as usual, lit up on stage. And this is in the States, with their indestructible paranoia towards smokers!

It was almost impossible to get to her concert (not only in the States). In 1998, I was in Paris and found out that her concert at the Olympia would take place these days. When I came to buy a ticket with a blue eye, they looked at me like I was crazy - all the tickets were sold four months ago. And even my acquaintances in the Ministry of Culture did not help.

Impressed by the Cesaria album, Goran Bregovic invited Evora to record the track Ausencia for the Emir Kusturica film Underground, which further contributed to her popularity.

Frankly, I'm in some difficulty, which songs from this album to choose. I want almost everything. But one is definitely not going anywhere. The album begins with this song and in French it is called "Petite Pays" - "Little Country". There is a little more text in it than in the previous songs, but not too much either:

You are like a star in the sky
You are like cool sand from the seabed,
You look from your rocks at the world around you.
O poor land where love blossoms,
Where mornas and coladeiras sound,
O beautiful country
Where drums and funan rhythms sound.

Oh, what longing, longing without end!
My little country, I love you so much!
My little country, I love it so much!

No matter how sad it is to admit it to us - people who are more or less literary-centric - the lyrics in Evora's songs are of secondary importance and do not represent independent artistic value. And, as far as I understand, not only for us who do not know the language, but also for its native speakers. The range of their themes is rather narrow - these are songs glorifying the beautiful homeland and the suffering of its people, or songs about love. There is also a fairly large group of songs dedicated to Evora's closest relatives - grandmother, mother, granddaughter, sister. We will listen to some of them today. But sometimes quite unexpected and completely unpredictable topics come across. Now I want to put on one of my favorite songs from the Cesaria album and invite you to try to at least roughly guess what is being sung in its only verse, framed by incredibly inventive tenor saxophone, violin and guitar solos. When I first got this album, due to some not too favorable circumstances, my friend's son lived in our house - a rather advanced young man, not alien to the craving for beauty. And while listening to this song, he told me that he imagines how in a sparkling white suit he rides in a luxurious convertible along some tropical coast, a fresh breeze blows through his hair, and this song plays from the player. I wonder what associations it will evoke in you.

7. D'nhirim reforma

So, the content of this song should be very close to the Russians. It is called "Pension Reform", and it sings about how difficult it is for old people to live on a miserable pension. Only their attitude to this matter is completely different there.

But this is not the most striking example of the discrepancy between form and content - of course, in our view. Now we will see a video for the song from Evora's next album, which is also called simply and unassumingly - Cape Verde. This album was released in 1997 after an extremely busy 1996 of continuous touring. That year Evora performed in France (40 concerts), Switzerland, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Sweden, USA (30 concerts), Canada, Senegal, Ivory Coast and finally in England, where in London hosted a sold-out concert at Queen Elisabeth Hall.

And the new album is characterized by the fact that it was written in different studios and even on different continents, and in the process of working on it, the accompanying ensemble gradually changed. All this partly affected its content - the album became even more danceable, songs with a distinctly pronounced "Caribbean sound" appeared in it, the arrangements became even richer and more refined. Only Evora's voice remained unchanged - still unhurried, natural, warm and at the same time detached, as if holding back sobs.

But let's continue our experiment and watch the clip, and once again you will try to guess what this song is about.

8. Sangue berona

Well, what are the options?

Of course, looking at this hilarious clip, it is almost impossible to guess. This song is called Byron's Blood. This is a specific Cape Verdian idiom, which means, I'm sorry, the blood of a virgin at the moment, so to speak, of the loss of said virginity by her. And the lyrics of the song go like this:

Byrona's blood is pleasant and sweet...
Who wants to know if she's really that good
Find her in the depths of the valley.

Byrona's blood is pleasant, sweet...
If you haven't been able to see her,
Look for the one who caused it.

Now let's listen to another song from this album. This time its content will be quite traditional. It's called "Old Mother". I must say that, despite world fame, Evora was a very domestic person and spent all her free time from the tour in her native Mindelo, among her mother, son, daughter, grandchildren ... In an interview, she did not get tired of repeating how she loves her old mother and misses her, how grateful she is for everything. It is not surprising that one of her most beautiful songs is dedicated to her mother.

You raised us around the kitchen stove (her mom worked as a cook).
Your black skirt and little scarf reminded us who we are.
Mom, mom, old mom,
I sing this song to you to please you a little.

You taught us that this world was made for life
That this world was made for love
But that he is also made for death and suffering.

In 1997, the French journalist Veronica Mortain came to Cesaria. This is how she described her home life:

“Cesaria's house is on May Day Street, in Mindelo. Who lives with Cesaria? Joan's old mother. Daughter Fernanda with two children. Son of Eduardo. Personal chauffeur. Chef Pirok. Producer, close friend and assistant of José da Silva. A middle-aged friend, a dog named Zeka, and a young man who is Cesaria's lover.

In her spare moments, Evora carefully takes care of her long nails, which she always paints in dark red. Well-groomed nails look ridiculous and even vulgar on her full, iron-mutilated hands. She began to do such a bright manicure in her youth, because she often laughed, and so that her bad teeth could not be seen, she covered her mouth with her hands. Having become famous and wealthy, she acquired a dazzling jaw, but the habit of painting her nails remained. Evora loves to wear gold jewelry - because before she could not afford it even in her wildest dreams.

Cesaria's passion for everything bright is unrestrained. On the dresser in her bedroom is a battery of perfume bottles, creams, nail polishes of unimaginable shades, brushes, powder puffs, combs and hair dryers. Makeup rituals are sacred to her! She seems to play the role of a princess that she could not play in her youth.

Cesaria constantly wears an apron with large roomy pockets, where she puts numerous keys, wads of money wrapped in plastic bags, and small change, which she generously distributes right and left. On the ground floor there is a dining room, where at any time of the day a table with good food will be laid for any guest.

Cesaria often takes a nap right on the floor in the hallway, putting a pillow under her head. Why in the hallway? She likes to watch passers-by scurrying around behind the wide open door.

By 1999, Evora's accompanying lineup had changed completely. Now its backbone was a group of a very famous Cape Verdian musician and composer Bau. In the same year, arranged by Bau and pianist Fernando Andrade, the album Café Atlantico was born. By this time, Evora's producers could already afford to spend more money on recordings, and full-fledged wind and string groups appeared in some songs - trumpets, violins, cello. At the very beginning of our evening, we already listened to one song from this album - this is the unforgettable "Antoshka-deroshka". And now let's listen to the first song of the album, especially since today the morna has not sounded for a long time. The song is called "Flor di nha esperansa" ("The Flower of My Hope")

When I learned that death does not spare the young,
That love has left the heart.
This morna is the remnant of my hope
Your love is deceitful, like a flower.

So many tears were shed before parting
Yes, and you had a hard time.

10 Flor di nha esperanca

After such a sentimental morna, it's time to talk about Cesaria's relationship with men. Here is what she told on this subject to the same Veronica Morten:

“The first time I fell in love with a wealthy businessman from Mindelo, and I did not even confess this to my mother, although I was already fourteen years old. Nobody knew anything about our relationship. The man was handsome and smelled incredibly good. With him I knew love. Today he is my great friend. He loves how I sing. But in those distant times, he did not even suspect that I would become a singer. I was a reserved, indecisive, modest girl, withdrawn and secretive. I did not have girlfriends to whom I could entrust my heart secrets. Our relationship did not last long because I fell in love with the musician Eduardo. He discovered that I have a voice. We began to perform everywhere together. He composed songs and accompanied me on the guitar. And then suddenly one day he took it and left. And somewhere there, in a new place, he married very successfully. Now he lives in Holland and a few years ago he specially came to Rotterdam to play with me on stage. When my first son was born, he even wanted to adopt him, but I refused, because he was not his own father. But she named the boy Edward - in his honor.

I've had so many husbands that I've lost count of them. But there was never a legal spouse. Those from whom I gave birth to children did not live with me under the same roof. All my life I have lived with my mother. And the father of my first child was called Benjamin. He was originally from Portugal and worked as a mechanic on the ship on whose deck we met. I was eighteen then. And although in those days it was customary to rent apartments in the city for their mistresses, Benjamin did not. When he found out that I was pregnant, he immediately left and never returned. Little Eduardo never recognized his father.

I never thought about marriage. Well, that's the kind of woman I am: I fall in love with one and already look at the other.

I really liked the players. They were beautiful and popular. I often went to football matches to admire them! And only now it has stopped, otherwise ... all my feelings will return again, and I will start to twist love with them. The fathers of my two children are football players. The son died in infancy, but the daughter survived. This is Fernanda, who lives with me along with her two children - my grandchildren, Janet and Adilson. They don't know their fathers either. In Cape Verde, it so happened that women raise children alone. Fathers either leave to work in an unknown direction, or they do not care where and how their child lives. Sometimes, however, young mothers leave their children to their parents and go nowhere for good luck. And even if young fathers manage to get somewhere, they never help abandoned wives and children. Therefore, our women get out as best they can.

I suffered greatly because Eduardo's own father did this to me and to his son. The father of my other daughter, by the way, continued to live here in Mindelo, in the neighborhood, but also did nothing for me or for her. The only man who behaved with dignity was Fernanda's father, the famous football player Pidukinba. He recognized her. Isn't that why I loved him the most? But one day he was invited to play under a contract in Portugal. At first he sent me money - I remember how I went to receive envelopes at his aunt's house. But one day it all ended.

As if summing up her personal life, Evora said in an American interview: "Men come and go, but music remains."

Meanwhile, in 2001, Evora released another album, São Vicente de Longe (Sao Vincente from afar). The album, in my opinion, is not the most successful, but for us it stands apart, because it was with this album that Cesaria first came to Russia the following year. Although in Russia she was known and loved for a long time, and pirated copies of all her albums were sold in unlimited quantities on Gorbushka.

Her first concert was a kind of corporate party. Having learned that Evora would perform in Kharkov in front of the Ukrainian elite (they said that Yulia Timoshenko arranged that concert), Alexander Mamut organized a private concert for her in Moscow, in the premises of the Anatoly Vasiliev Theater. I knew about this concert, but there was nothing to dream of going there - it was an event only for VIPs. But I got to her first open concert in the hall of the Maly Theater, despite the fact that in the coming days I was to have an operation to remove kidney cancer.

I already knew the album “São Vicente de Longe” by that time, and I was surprised only by the fact that Evora again almost completely changed the accompanying line-up. From the Bau ensemble, only pianist Fernando Andrade remained in the group, who became the leader of the new group and the author of all arrangements. But among others, Cuban violinist Han Corrales Subida, saxophonist Antonio Gomez Fernandez, percussionist Ademiro Paris Miranda and a very young but insanely talented solo guitarist Joao Pina Alves appeared among others. I was also surprised and saddened by the fact that, having performed almost all the songs from the album "São Vicente de Longe", Evora for some reason missed my favorite - "Esperanca Irisada". Now, ten years later, I can honestly admit that it was from this song that we once ripped off the rhythm section when we recorded “Thin Scar on Your Favorite Pope”. In frustrated feelings, I did not immediately realize that Evora did not include this song in the concert program, because the accordion is very important in the arrangement, and there was no accordionist in her tour lineup. Here is the song.

11. Esperanca Irisada

I half understood the title of this song: e speranca is, of course, hope, and irisada is clearly something connected with the rainbow. It turns out "Rainbow Hope". And, naturally, I thought it was something about love and didn't particularly go into details. But upon closer examination, it turned out that the lyrics of this song are somewhat unprecedented. I will not ask you to guess, I will say right away: this song is dedicated to Evora's granddaughter. Songs dedicated to children, although not often, are found in nature. For example, my "Daughter Blues". But the songs dedicated to the grandchildren, I confess, I have not heard a single one. Obviously, because when the singers have grandchildren, they rarely perform on the stage, and in any case they try not to advertise this fact of their biography. The text itself is nothing special, although unlike most of Evora's songs, it has quite a lot of words. In general it sounds like this:

“My dear granddaughter, a playful beauty with sparkling and joyful eyes. They contain all the hope of my country, which I miss so much. It seems that I hear your voice: “Grandma, come soon, we miss you!” Let my songs save you from troubles and misfortunes. Know that your grandmother, who travels all over the world, loves you and remembers you.”

After this concert, Evora became a frequent guest in Russia. She visited us almost every year and traveled all over our vast country far and wide. My friend Volodya Demchikov even organized a concert tour for her in the cities of Siberia and the Far East. And everywhere she collected full halls. Evora's concerts around the world were held with constant success, but she herself admitted that she was not accepted anywhere like in Russia. The mysterious Russian soul was somehow very close to the melancholic tunes from the small islands lost in the Atlantic Ocean. And even six months before her death, already seriously ill, she found the strength to come to Moscow and give a concert at the Crocus City Hall.

In 2003, with the new album Voz d amor ("Voice of Love"), which had received the Grammy Award by that time, she gathered a full house at the Olimpiyskiy. Now we will listen and watch one of the best songs of this album. But I must warn you in advance that I could not find a translation of this song, and I have absolutely no idea what it is about. But I could not include it in today's program for two reasons. Firstly, this is my wife's favorite song, and secondly, I really want to show you in all its glory the guitarist Joao Pina Alves.

12. Saia Travada

Meanwhile, Evora's health was getting worse, and the concert schedule was getting denser and richer. She had to give about 100 concerts a year - that is, almost every three days. And that's not counting flights from continent to continent, travel, rehearsals, recordings, communication with journalists, etc. For someone who has had little to do with this cuisine, this is simply impossible to imagine. Such crazy loads would be beyond the power of even a young and healthy person, but she endured at her age and with all her sores. For what? In one interview, Evora was asked what she loves most in the world. She thought a little and honestly answered: money. This sometimes happens with people who have lived almost their entire lives in hopeless poverty. There were many rumors that Evora supported almost the entire country with fees from her concerts and, in particular, fully funded the education system. I think that for the most part this is apocryphal, although she certainly did a lot of charity work.

Something else was worse. Continuous touring, declining health and growing fatigue could not but affect the quality of the concerts. Evora and her musicians have already worked them out "on the machine", without getting any pleasure from it. In such a situation, self-demanding inevitably falls. In addition, even with the highest professionalism of sound engineers, it is extremely difficult and hardly possible in principle to rebuild the sound of 7-8 live instruments each time in a new room with new acoustics. Therefore, often had to be content with a certain average sound. And only on studio recordings Evora and her musicians sounded the same. But there was less and less time and energy left to work in the studio.

Artemy Troitsky said: “The death of Cesaria is largely the result of wear and tear, and I am absolutely sure that this wear and tear was also provoked by her French managers, who constantly demanded tours and new albums from her. I think if Cesaria Evora lived and sang for her own pleasure, and this obligation to perform, record and bring money left and right did not prevail over her, she would have lived for more than one year or even more than one dozen years.

After the "Voice of Love" a new album had to wait three years. It was called "Rogamar" - "Ode to the Sea". I heard him live at a concert in Yaroslavl in 2008, of course, already knowing from the recordings. And this concert, in general, disappointed me - no, everything was professional, as always, at the highest level, but the fatigue and emptiness of both Evora herself and her musicians were visible to the naked eye. And when, after the concert, we met with her in the hotel restaurant, it was just a pity to look at her. She sat completely exhausted, with difficulty ate a few spoons of boiled rice, and a few minutes later she went to her room, walking heavily with swollen legs.

And at the concert itself, as well as at the first concert in Moscow, she did not perform the two best songs of the album. And for the same reason - because of the lack of an accordion. But this time it was not just an accordionist that was missing - the phenomenal Madagascarian Régi Gizavo was missing, who recorded two accordion parts in the album. Now we will listen to these songs. The first one is called "Fish Traders". It sings in broad strokes about how heartless fishmongers in Lisbon curse a poor guy who was stupidly expelled from Cape Verde for no reason, and he misses his family very much. But the main thing in it, of course, is the unique accordion part, which in some way expands the idea of ​​the limit of human capabilities and at the same time looks completely natural, organic and far from any kind of trickery.

13. Travessa de Peixeira

And another song from the same album. It is called "Sao Tome at the Equator". Here Rigi Gizavo does not play anything extraordinary (although he plays very well), but this is one of the most beautiful songs of Cesaria Evora and, in addition, one of only two waltzes in her repertoire. A very banal text of the song was written by Evora's regular author Teofilo Chantre, whom she once even brought with her to Moscow, but, as we have already said, the text in Evora's songs is of secondary importance.

"Sao Tome, my beautiful and unfortunate country, the blood of Bantu, Creoles and Angolans flows in your veins, you have known a lot of grief, but I believe that your future will be bright."

This is the advantage of listening to songs in an unfamiliar language. If we heard such a text in Russian, it would greatly spoil our impression of the song. And so - you listen, and it seems that the words are as beautiful as the music and performance. I remember that in my youth I tried to listen to many Soviet songs in this way, trying to distance myself from the text, but it turned out badly - the mediocre text still stubbornly climbed into my ears. And in Creole - a pleasure.

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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 become 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.

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!

Her songs are like a light sea breeze on a quiet evening coast at sunset: on the one hand, simple human happiness, and on the other, infinitely bright sadness. She sings songs of paradise, where a person has returned, knowing that at any second he can lose him ... African Edith Piaf, a 62-year-old grandmother from the Cape Verde Islands, sang all her life in smoky port bars. And she began her professional career only at the age of 47. Income from the concert activities of Evora formed almost half of the treasury of her homeland - Cape Verde. Her manner of performing the morna of drawn-out and melodic romantic ballads in Creole drove the world's music connoisseurs crazy.

Evora was born on August 27, 1941 in the port city of Mindelo (Cape Verde) in the family of a musician. From the age of 17, Cesaria began performing in the bars of Mindelo, performing mainly the works of the poet and composer B. Lez, whose mornas have become classics of the archipelago. In 1975, after a long struggle for independence from Portugal, a coup takes place in the archipelago and a pro-Marxist regime is established. The country is in a difficult economic situation. Cesaria can no longer make a living by singing. Unrecognized, she falls silent for ten long years. She finds solace in cognac and cigars. In 1985, Cesaria gives in to the requests of her friends and participates in the recording of a collective album of the best Morne performers from Cape Verde. In 1986, her first solo album was recorded in Lisbon. It is followed by many concerts in different countries among the diaspora of Cape Verde. A momentous meeting soon followed with José Da Silva, Cesaria's compatriot living in France. A fan of the musical culture of his people, Jose works as a lineman at night, and devotes his days to music. It is he who takes her career into his own hands, as a result of which her first French album, Barefoot Diva, is released in the same year. This album begins her collaboration with Lusafrica, which continues to this day.

In 1990, Cesaria's second album, The Fate of a Beauty, was released. This album doesn't make much noise, but Cesaria's fame is rising among the Cape Verdean diaspora. In 1991, Cesaria will be successful at the Angouleme festival. She was noticed by the French press. And, although her performance in Paris on June 2, 1991 gathers only compatriots, Liberation writes about her in enthusiastic terms. Cesaria celebrates its fiftieth anniversary with the release of a new album, which Le Monde rave about. The disc plays on the radio, her solo concert on December 14 is completely sold out, this time her audience consists of almost only Europeans. In 1992, the album "Miss Perfumado" was recorded, for which Cesaria received the Golden Disc, becoming the second African woman after Miriam Makeba to achieve such success.

1993 is the year of Cesaria's triumph in France. The press choke with delight and savor the details of her life, her exorbitant passion for smoking and cognac, her difficult life in Mindelo at the end of the world, calling her the African Billie Holiday. This year, the first concerts are held in Olympia, all of Paris is at her feet. This whole year is on tour: Portugal, Canada, Spain, Japan ...

In 1994, the discovery of Brazil and the meeting of Cesaria with the Brazilian Caetano Veloso, who had a great influence on her work. Again, countless tours around the world ... And in almost every country, the best singers ask her to sing with them. Cesaria is always willing to experiment: her partners are Rita Mitsuko, Catherine Ringer, Cayetano Veloso and others. In the same year, the collection "The Most Beautiful Morns of Cesaria" was published. This year is significant in that Cesaria conquers her passion for cognac, a companion of her ten-year depression. In 1995 - the American tour of Cesaria. Her album "Cesaria", which has already received a Golden Disc in France, becomes a hit in the USA (150 thousand copies sold). Her concerts are taken by storm. The American show elite breaks into her concert. In the same year she recorded the Ausencia tango for Emir Kusturica's film "Underground". Cesaria tours a lot. In 1997, the new album "Cape Verde" was released, countless tours, including the USA, where this disc was nominated for the Grammy-Awards. In 1998, a new compilation "The Best of Cesaria Évora", which includes all her best songs, as well as Besame mucho in Spanish, previously recorded for the film "Great Expectations". She sang, it would seem, already completely overplayed hit - and sang as if before the author of this song, the Mexican Consuelo Velasquez, no one had put the words “kiss me tighter” to music. And again, Cesaria travels around the world with concerts.

In 1999, her new album "Atlantico Cafe" was released, first in France, then replicated around the world. The birthplace of Cesaria, the port of Mindelo and the islands of San Vincente became the main themes of the album. Café Atlantico, the collective name for the countless bars in Mindelo where Cesaria once sang, sells over 600,000 copies. This disc brings her Victoire dela musique - the highest recognition of musical success in France.

In 2001, Cesaria's album "San Vincente from afar" appears - the quintessence of Cesaria's creative path, in which she is established not only as a professional of the highest standard, but also as a force that can unite the best musicians and performers around herself. In July 2002, the double album "Anthology" was released. Now in Paris, at her headquarters, work is underway on the next album. Grandmother Cesaria, who lost her three husbands, is tired of touring (age and illness make you aware) and is going to spend more time in the studios, recording discs. In Mindelo, as in most port cities, nightlife was in full swing, music was playing everywhere - in clubs, on the streets, on the beach. All styles were in vogue: ballads, waltzes, foxtrots, controversy. However, the most popular were considered morna and coladera - slow and rhythmic songs expressing nostalgia, love, sadness and longing.

Possessing a strong and emotional voice most suited to these styles, Cesaria quickly found her niche in Mindelo's musical life and, thanks to regular and memorable performances, soon won the title of "Queen of the Morna". With musicians loyal to her, she moved from club to club, giving concerts and earning for a living from the bounty of his fans. However, in the late 1950s, the port began to decline, and when Senegal gained independence from Portugal in 1975, trade in Cape Verde quickly curtailed, and most of the musicians emigrated to other parts of the world. Caesarea Evora decided to stay at home.

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 old 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.

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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.