Simentera were a Capeverdean band or a music group performing traditional and world music and was one of the most famous groups in Cape Verde.

History

The band was founded in 1992. Two years after the foundation, they appeared at the 1994

Sfinks Festival The Sfinks festival is a Belgium, Belgian festival for world music at Boechout. The festival is held during the last weekend in July. History The festival was originally held (1975–1994) in a local school park. In 1982 the festival featured exoti ...

Boechout Boechout () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality of Belgium located in the Flemish Region, Flemish province of Antwerp (province), Antwerp. The municipality comprises the towns of Boechout proper and . In 2021, Boechout had a total popul ...

, Belgium. The group performed traditional Capeverdean music with electronic instruments, which the band gave new ways with an acoustic guitar. A local magazine called Simentera the "newest face of the other Capeverdean music". Its group members came from different professions, one of them included

Lela Violão Lela Violão, born Manuel Tomás da Cruz (January 18, 1929 – April 5, 2009) was a Cape Verdean singer and composer. Lela Violão was born on the island of São Vicente, his father was Tomás Manuel da Cruz and his mother was Isabel Ana Oliveir ...

. They were one of the few Capevedeans that were strongly associated with their country. Simentera had set the consolidation of the Capeverdean identity. They created a society to support Capeverdean music, their objective was to create a cultural center, a music school for children and CD store where Capeverdean artists go and visit. Their first album was ''Raiz'' released in 1992, two of the singles were originally by other artists, "Codjeta" by Kaká Barbosa and "Nha Codé" by Pedro Cardoso, it was their only release on

Lusafrica Lusafrica, full name: Productions Lusafrica (French for ''Lusafrica Productions'') is a multinational independent record label company based in Paris, France. The company was founded in 1988 by José da Silva (born in 1959 in Praia, Cape Verde), ...

. Their second album was ''Barro e Voz'' in 1997 and features a traditional song "Nha Nobo", another song was "A Mar" ("The Sea"), later with the remix done by DJ Soul Slinger, the track appeared in the album '' Onda Sonora: Red Hot + Lisbon'' in 1998. One of the songs were in the 2000 album ''Cabo Verde en Serenata'' which features

coladeira The ''coladeira'' (; Cape Verdean Creole: ''koladera,'' ) is a music genre from the Cape Verde islands in the central Atlantic Ocean. It is characterized by a variable tempo, a 2-beat bar, and (in its most traditional form) a harmonic structu ...

, morna and

funaná The ''funaná'' is a music and dance genre from Cape Verde. ''Funaná'' is an accordion-based music. The rhythm is usually provided by the '' ferrinho'' much like the use of washboards in zydeco, the saw in Caribbean ripsaw music, the scrape ...

traditional songs. One single "Valsa Azul" was released on September 26, 2000 as part of '' Unwired: Africa'', a benefit compilation album, proceeds went to

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

, another was "Tchapeu di padja" which is originated from a poem by Jorge Barbosa. They also included religious songs, as the African slaves practiced, in the band's repertory. Lela Violão left in 2001 and continued his solo career, he died in 2009 and is the only former member of the band not living today. ''Tr'Adictional'' was their last album released in 2003 which adhered to their tradition. The band broke up in 2004 after Mário Lúcio left. Mário Lúcio would continue as a solo musician and later became the Capeverdean minister of culture in 2011.

Discography

* ''Raiz'' (

/Sunny Moon, 1992) ** "Codjeta", originally by Kaká Barbosa ** "Nha Codê”, originally by Pedro Cardoso * ''Barro E Voz'' (Mélodie/Indigo, 1997) ** "Nha nobo" ** "A Mar" The Sea"* ''Cabo Verde En Serenata'' (Piranha/EFA, 2000) **"Tchapeu di padja" - originally a poem by Jorge Barbosa **"Valsa Azul" * ''Tr'Adictional'' (Mélodie/Indigo, 2003) ** "Lua Cheia", featuring Maria João

References

External links

Portrait of the group
{{Authority control Cape Verdean musical groups Culture of Santiago, Cape Verde