Biography

DULCE MATIAS

Dulce Matias comes from a famous and influent musical family in Cape-Verde. She has music and singing all under her skin. Very keen to maintain the roots of her origins, culture and language, she chose the path of traditional music, singing the Morna, a nostalgic style with a slow rhythm, as well as the Coladera, which is a faster, more joyful and appealing tempo, an Argentinean tone with fascinating lyrics… Our precious pearl from Cape-Verde performs at the Satellite Café in Paris, France.

Author, composer and singer, Dulce is Nho Xima’s grand daughter, a famous Cape Verde violinist; And she’s the niece of John Matias who’s brilliant career impressed the entire island community.

On the traces of the “Diva with naked feet” Cesaria Evora, Dulce Matias was a finalist at the Koras Awards in 1999. In her pieces, she sings love and peace nostalgic messages in the Morna and the Coadeira styles. She also poses a critical analysis on the becoming of the Cape Verde music and the importance of singing live for her public. So she remains faithful to her cultural roots, while feeling close to the Brazilian music.

She identifies to Barbara Streisand, but before all to Ella Fitzgerald, her ultimate reference because Jazz remains for her the best school to educate the voice, while the Blues bring her so close to the nostalgic feeling the Cape Verdians have for their country.

She sings the Morna, the most famous musical style danced in a couple and played at a slow rhythm over some nostalgic texts that express the Sausade, lost love regrets, exile and hopes for a future return. She also sings the Coladera, which is played at a rapid rhythm with some traditional instruments such as the violin, guitar and cavaquinho, to express the joy of meeting the loved ones again after a long absence. Dulce transports her public into a new dimension.

After the album Razão d'Existi (2001), she presents here her last opus : Mel d'Cana. For this new album, Dulce surrounded herself with a set of virtuoso musicians as well as with Rufino Almeida known as “Bau” whose artistic sense was determinant to Cesaria Evora !

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Music was everywhere in my family during childhood. We were eight brothers and sisters while all of my brothers now play an instrument. My little sister Nana does the choirs in my albums. My mother just has an overpowering voice. My grandfather Nho Xima played the violin like a god as well as all the string instruments. My uncle Damiao Matias is my teammate. He writes and composes, and we were already together when I first started. My songs fit into the traditional Cape Verde music in the Morna and Colladera styles.