Aline Frazão (born 17 June 1988) is an

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

n singer-songwriter.

Biography

Frazão was born in June 1988 in

Luanda Luanda () is the capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Angola's administrative centre, its chief seaport ...

, the capital of Angola. While her parents are Angolan, some of her family comes from Portugal and Cape Verde. She has been interested in music since childhood and first began writing songs at the age of 15. Her biggest influence is

Paulo Flores Paulo Flores (born 1972) is a musician from Angola. Flores was born in Luanda and spent some of his childhood in Lisbon. His music is mostly written in Portuguese language, Portuguese though some is in the Kimbundu language. His music is often p ...

. At the age of 18, she moved to Portugal to attend the

New University of Lisbon NOVA University Lisbon ( pt, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, ), or just NOVA, is a Portuguese public university whose rectorate is located in Campolide, Lisbon. Founded in 1973, it is the newest of the public universities in the Portuguese capital ...

, where she received a degree in communication. After graduation, she worked as a journalist for the newspaper Rede Angola. She became involved in social movements after moving to Spain and was introduced to

flamenco Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and ...

. Her first time in the recording studio was a collaboration with the flautist César Herranz entitled "A Minha Embala". In 2011, after moving to

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of St ...

, she released her debut solo album, "Clave Bantu". It has a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

idiom and features some lyrics written by with Angolan writers

José Eduardo Agualusa José Eduardo Agualusa Alves da Cunha (born December 13, 1960) is an Angolan journalist and writer of Portuguese and Brazilian descent. He studied agronomy and silviculture in Lisbon, Portugal. Currently he resides in the Island of Mozambiqu ...

and

Ondjaki Ndalu de Almeida (born July 5,1977) is a writer born in Angola who uses the pen name Ondjaki. He has written poetry, children's books, short stories, novels, drama and film scripts. Career Ondjaki studied sociology at the University of Lisbon, ...

. Her second album, "Movimento", was a partnership between her and the Angolan poet Carlos Ferreira and includes a poem by

Alda Lara Alda Ferreira Pires Barreto de Lara Albuquerque, known as Alda Lara (9 June 1930, Benguela, Angola – 30 January 1962, Cambambe, Angola) was a Portuguese-language Angolan poet.Margaret Busby (ed.), '' Daughters of Africa: An International Anthol ...

set to music. It came out in 2013. Frazão released her third album of original material, "Insular", in 2015. It was recorded on the small Scottish island of Jura, chosen for its isolated location, in the studio of the album's producer

Giles Perring Giles may refer to: People * Giles (given name), male given name (Latin: ''Aegidius'') * Giles (surname), family name * Saint Giles (650–710), 7th–8th-century Christian hermit saint * Giles of Assisi, Aegidius of Assisi, 13th-century c ...

. Also on this album several musicians provided accompaniment, among others, the Portuguese guitarist Pedro Geraldes and, at the recommendation of Perring, who also played all the percussion, bass player Simon Edwards, clarinettist Sarah Homer, and Scottish harpist Esther Swift of Twelfth Day. It features some lyrics by the Angolan poet Ana Paula Tavares and the Portuguese rapper Capicua. All the songs were new, except the traditional "Susana", which was recorded in Lisbon and is very well known in Angola. Frazão has toured several countries including

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. Circa 2016, she resides in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

. Frazão composed the soundtrack for 2020 film Air Conditioner, set in

, Angola, it was directed by Mário Bastos.

Writing

Frazão said that, when touring internationally, she tells the audience she is from Angola and most people could not situate it geographically. She considers songwriting a lonely process but can write a great number of songs quickly.

Discography

Albums

* ''Clava Bantu'' (2011) * ''Movimento'' (2013) * ''Insular'' (2015) * ''Dentro da Chuva'' (2018) * ''Uma Música Angolana'' (2022)

Other

*''A Minha Embala'' (2011) with César Herranz

References

External links

Official websiteAline Frazão
on Vimeo {{DEFAULTSORT:Frazao, Aline 1988 births Living people People from Luanda 21st-century Angolan women singers Angolan songwriters