Epifânia de Freitas Silva Ramos Évora, better known as Dona Tututa or Tututa Évora (January 6, 1919 – January 26, 2014) was a Cape Verdean composer and a pianist. She is considered one of Cape Verde's legendary figure, she was the author of several songs including ''Grito d' Dor'', ''Sentimento'' (''Sentiment''), ''Mãe Tigre'' (''Mother of the Tiger'') and ''Vida Torturada'' (''Tortured Life'').

Cesária Évora Cesária Évora GCIH (; 27 August 194117 December 2011), more commonly known as Cize, was a Cape Verdean singer-songwriter. She received a Grammy Award in 2004 for her album ''Voz d'Amor''. Nicknamed the "Barefoot Diva" for performing without ...

, Bana, Humbertona and her daughter Magda Évora are some of the performers who recorded her songs.

Biography

She was the daughter of António da Silva Ramos, who was Anton Tchiche. Her brother Tchufe (Pedro Alcântara Silva Ramos) was a guitarist and singer. When she was a teenager, Tututa started her piano studies. She professionally played at Café Royal. She was the first woman on the island of São Vicente to play at night which was rare. Musically, she also challenged conventions to mend her training of a classical pianist with Cape Verdean traditional music. After she was married, she later resided in the island of Sal with her husband and her artistic career was suspended. They had twelve children, two of the daughters, Magda Évora and Milú Évora, are singers. She launched her only record in 1966 at the age of 47. Invited by Bana, she visited the United States where she recorded ''Rapsódia Tututa & Taninho'' with guitarist Taninho. Later, she participated in sporadic tours including in France, Guinea and Portugal. Together they released a compilation album in 2008 titled ''Cape-Verde (Mornas & Coladeiras)'' (or as ''Cape Verde: Mornas & Coladeiras''), the album features ten songs, one of them by

Val Xalino Val Xalino (born August 19, 1953) is a Capeverdean singer and producer who currently resides in Gothenburg, Sweden. He is the father of the Cape Verdean singer and producer Robert Xalino. Biography Val Xalino was born in Mindelo on the island o ...

, Léna Timas and Ingrid Monteiro She died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

in 2014.

Awards and honors

She was honored by the poem "Tututa" in 2008 by Alberto Rui Machado. Her name was given to the Escola Municipal de Artes do Sal, the Sal Municipal Arts School. In 2013, João Alves da Veiga directed the documentary ''Dona Tututa'' which was about the works by the pianist and received the award for best film at the Cabo Verde International Film Festival for 2013. One of the vessels at CV Interilhas is wearing the name Dona Tututa.

References

External links

Dona Tututa at Facebook

Dona Tututa at Vimeo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tututa Cape Verdean composers Women composers 1919 births 2014 deaths 20th-century pianists Women pianists People from Mindelo Deaths from pneumonia in Cape Verde