Carmen Souza was born 26 years ago in Lisbon within a Christian family of Cape Verdeans. At a young age, she experienced the Sodade feeling of missing a loved one during the long absences of her father, who worked at sea. She grew up in a mixed language environment of Creole, the Cape Verde dialect her parents spoke at home, and Portuguese, always surrounded by the Cape Verdean way of life.
In her teens she sang professionally in a Lusophone Gospel Choir and later participated in several projects ranging through such musical genres as Funk, Soul, Jazz and World musics. Being a strongly spiritual person, Carmen always saw music as her mission and felt privileged to have the opportunity to express herself through it, working hard every day to deserve that opportunity. Musicians like Luis Morais, Theo Pas'cal, Ella Fitzgerald, Joe Zawinul, Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarret, Diana Krall, etc, are definitely those that truly inspire her evolution and search for a unique personal style.
Theo Pas'cal, her producer and mentor and one of the best bass players in Portugal, discovered her talent and introduced Carmen to Jazz, Fusion and other contemporary sounds that markedly influenced her musical development.
In 2003, Carmen began working with Theo on the compositions that would be included on her début album Ess ê nha Cabo Verde. Carmen wanted to create a new and unique sound, in her ancestors dialect Creole, that would mix traditional African and Cape Verde rhythms like Batuke, Morna, Cola djon, and others, with her jazz/soul contemporary influences, in a totally intimate and acoustic vibe, different from the traditional festive environment of Cape Verdean sounds.
Ess ê nha Cabo Verde was released two years later in 2005 to critical acclaim and led to her international breakthrough performance at the WOMAD at Reading Festival of the same year.
Since that concert she has also wowed the crowds on larger stages at Toronto Afro Fest-Canada, Bray Jazz Festival - Ireland or Ulsan World Music Fest in South Korea, among others, leaving a trace of deadly captivating performances everywhere she goes.
By the end of 2007, Carmen signed a licensing deal with German Label Connecting Cultures/Choice Music for the worldwide distribution of her second new album 'Verdade' earning the tools to continue her innovative and outstanding work.
In “Verdade” Carmen Souza signs an exciting and melodically vibrant repertoire in Creole that, according to Alex Robinson in SONGLINES(UK): 'gets progressively more interesting on each subsequent listen.' She also co-produces the album and features on Wurlitzer and guitar. 'Verdade', which means “truth”, is an excellent title that explains the incredible authenticity of her music' says Matt Forss from the INSIDE WORLD MUSIC (USA). 'All sung with a sensuous richness and wrapped up in luscious sound steeped in the melodic jazz of Ella or Hancock, Jarret or Zawinul. Blissful stuff. “ says Simon Rowand at Rock'n'Rell Magazine.
Carmen absorbed all her influences from her ancestral Cape Verde and “the world of Jazz”, that so much inspires her, to create something truly unique that will appeal to a bigger and even more sophisticated audience beyond World Music. 'Carmen Souza is carving her own little Afro-European jazz niche here — smooth but not too soft, mellow without being too laid-back, and with a neat approach to song-craft.' according to Con Murphy on FlY(UK)