Jazz Fest Passau

GABRIELA MENDES & BAND
Gabriela Mendes was born in 1973 in Mindelo, the cultural capital of Cape Verde, as well as her famous role model Cesaria Evora.
At the age of six, she sang in the local church choir as a soloist. At the end of the 90s, she gave her first concerts in the bars and hotels of the Archipelago, attracting the attention of a fast-growing audience.
In 2000 she was invited to the probably most important festival of the islands "Festival of Santa Maria". She sang in front of 40,000 people, accompanied by Cesaria Evora's band.
From here starts her steep career: Paris, Lisbon, Tunisia, USA, Canada.
With so far three CD releases under her own name, she has gradually become a representative of the Cape Verdean world.Cape Verdisch-quiet, but also moving West African sounds. From the melancholy morna (love song, related to Fado) to the danceable caldeira, she presents the microcosm of the African island state.