Amandio Cabral

Ribeira Brava, São Nicolau, 1935 

Singer, Songwriter 

Amândio Cabral comes from a family of musicians, where his father and uncles played several instruments. Living in São Vicente at the end of the 1950s, he was one of the pioneers in the discography produced in Cape Verde, recording two of the historic 45 rpm of the Casa do Leão, both titled Mornas de Cabo Verde.  

After living several years in Portugal, in the beginning of the 60s, a time when he traveled through several Portuguese colonies and European countries on tours organized by the Portuguese government, he left for the United States in 1964. That same year, his first album was released in the USA, Lota Disco presents Amândio Cabral, by Joli Gonsalves‘s label, who signs the introductory text. 

Amândio Cabral then settled in San Francisco, where he worked as a musician. In the early 1970s, he presented a musical program entitled Amandio’s Musical International. In the absence of a Cape Verdean musical environment, Cabral approached jazz musicians, which had a great influence on his work, distancing himself from the usual arrangements in Cape Verdean music, although he continued to sing mornas and koladeras. Brazilian bossa nova is another strong component in his musical production.  

His compositions are recorded by the North American pianist Larry Dunlap, with whom he began working in the 1980s. Solo or with jazz formations, Dunlap has several instrumental albums interpreting only themes by Amândio Cabral. In 2012 appears Um Renovo Musical, a project along the same lines and directed by the north American pianist, but now with participation of singer Gabriela Mendes, invited by the songwriter to interpret his themes with a jazzy touch.  

Amândio Cabral was one of the names involved in the process over the authorship of “Sodade”, after the international success of this composition voiced by Cesária Évora. Together with Luís Morais, Cabral had registered the song at the Sociedade Portuguesa de Autores, in the 1970s.  

Songs

A Busca Terminou; Adeus a Lisboa; Amor e Solitude; Bem, bem, bem; Bo Bem di Céu; Bô e nha princeza; Cutch Cutch; Delia Querida; Fly With my Love; For a Long; Long Time; Fruto Proibido; Magic Kiss; Maria da Luz; Marilena; Mi Sem Bo Amor (parceria com Vitorino Chantre); Momento Mágico; Mostra´me Ceu; Nha coração ê um jardim; Nha Ilusão; Nos Oração; Os des mandamentos; Para que; Passing breeze; Quero o teu Amor; Raínha de Beleza; Remembering Cabo Verde; Ribeira Brava; Sandpiper Stroll; Saudades de Lisboa; Say You Love Me; Segredu; Sodade di longe;  Sol jácambá; Tchim-tchim; Theme in C major 7; There is no place to go; Traidora; Tristalegria;  Um beijo somente; Uma Flor P´ra Beijar; Waltz for Bobbe; Why Not Forever; Xandinha; Your Love is Here

Discography

• Mornas de Cabo Verde, EP, Casa do Leão, S. Vicente, 1960 (com os temas “Es Mundo”, “Salamansa”, “Sodade de São Nicolau” e “Xandinha”).
• Mornas de Cabo Verde, EP, Casa do Leão, S. Vicente, 1960 (com os temas “Camin de São Tomé”, “Mam-Bia”, “Mostra’me céu” e “Na areia de Salamansa”).
• Lota Disco presente Amândio Cabral, LP, Gon-Jo Publishing Company, Nova Iorque, 1964.
• Passing breeze, LP, Cardoso Disco, São Francisco, 1970.
• Com amor, LP, Cardoso Disco, São Francisco, 1970.
• Sketches from Cape Verde, LP, Cardoso Disco, São Francisco, 1984.
• Sketches of Portugal, Brasil and Cape Verde Islands, LP, Cardoso Disco, São Francisco, 1984.
• Tristalegria, CD, Sonovox, Lisboa, 1994.
• Basiode n’amôr (Based on love), CD, Coit Records, São Francisco, 1998.
• Um cabo-verdiano satisfeito (A satisfied capeverdean), CD (compilação), 2004.

Songs by Amândio Cabral performed by Larry Dunlap:

• Why Not Forever, CD, Coit Music Productions, São Francisco, 1994.
• Evolution Cape Verde-USA, CD, Coit Music Productions, São Francisco, 1995.
• Sonho azul (Blue dream), CD, Larry Dunlap/Amândio Cabral, São Francisco, 1998.
• Jazz!, CD, Larry Dunlap/Amândio Cabral, São Francisco, 2000.
• Fly with my love, CD, Larry Dunlap/Amândio Cabral, São Francisco, 2001.
• Jazz das Ilhas, CD, Larry Dunlap/Amândio Cabral, São Francisco, 2005.
• Um renovo musical, CD, 2012. Voz: Gabriela Mendes.

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