World-renowned singer Cesária Évora died from cardiorespiratory insufficiency and hypertension today at the Baptista de Sousa Hospital in Mindelo, on the Cape Verde island of São Vicente. She was 70.
The heavy-smoking, heavy-drinking Évora had suffered from numerous health issues in recent years, including a series of strokes in 2008 and undergoing open-heart surgery in May 2010. Last September, she had to cancel several planned concerts after announcing that she was retiring due to ill health.
A former seamstress who grew up in poverty, Évora (born Aug. 27, 1941, in São Vicente) began her career singing "morna" [Portuguese for "lukewarm"] songs in São Vicente's local bars. "Morna" music, which sounds like a mixture of Portugal's soulful fado and Brazil's lively tropical jazz, is the national rhythm of the former Portuguese colony of Cape Verde, a series of volcanic islands off the northwestern coast of Africa.
Évora's international career was launched following the success of the 1988 French-produced album "La...
The heavy-smoking, heavy-drinking Évora had suffered from numerous health issues in recent years, including a series of strokes in 2008 and undergoing open-heart surgery in May 2010. Last September, she had to cancel several planned concerts after announcing that she was retiring due to ill health.
A former seamstress who grew up in poverty, Évora (born Aug. 27, 1941, in São Vicente) began her career singing "morna" [Portuguese for "lukewarm"] songs in São Vicente's local bars. "Morna" music, which sounds like a mixture of Portugal's soulful fado and Brazil's lively tropical jazz, is the national rhythm of the former Portuguese colony of Cape Verde, a series of volcanic islands off the northwestern coast of Africa.
Évora's international career was launched following the success of the 1988 French-produced album "La...
- 12/18/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
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