José Melo Music Productions & Management is a booking agency based in Amsterdam, working since 1998 at artistic and cultural music development all over the world.
We look for a good relationship with theatres and festivals worldwide. Our acts can be found spread from clubs, to great halls and festivals.
We also work as advisors on current trends in music from Portugal and the Portuguese diaspora.
Use our bookingoffice to book one of our artists. On our site you can find all artist information like biography, discography and photography. You can listen to the music of our artists and also buy online.
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Amélia Muge
Traditional music vocal Benelux Booking |
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Carlos do Carmo
Fado zang, Portugese gitaar, akoestische gitaar, akoestische basgitaar Benelux Booking |
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Carlos Leitão
Fado Carlos Leitão (zang) Benelux Booking |
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Carmen Souza
Fusion / World Jazz voice, acoustic guitar, Wurlitzer, acoustic bass, double bass, percussion, acoustic piano Worldwide booking |
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Ceumar
Samba / Musica Popular Brasileira Vocal Worldwide booking |
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Cristina Branco
Fado Portuguese guitar, acoustic guitar, bassguitar, vocal, piano Benelux Booking |
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Custódio Castelo
Instrumental music Portuguese guitar, acoustic guitar, acoustic bassguitar Worldwide booking |
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Danças Ocultas
Instrumental music accordeon quartet Benelux Booking |
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Edu Miranda
Samba - Choro bandolin, guitar, drums Worldwide booking |
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Fernando Deghi
Instrumental music solo met verschillende gitaren uit Sertão Benelux Booking |
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Helder Moutinho
Fado vocal, Portugese guitar, acoustic guitar, acoustic bassguitar Benelux Booking |
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Lucia Pulido
Traditional Columbian and Jazz Quintet/Trio Worldwide booking |
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Mafalda Arnauth
Fado Portugese gitaar, klassieke gitaar, basgitaar Benelux Booking |
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Márta Sebestyén
Traditional music vocal, brass, strings Benelux Booking |
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Moderna Tradição
Samba - Choro piano, bandolim, 7 chords guitar, saxophone, percussion Worldwide booking |
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Ná Ozzetti
Samba - Choro Braziliaans Benelux Booking |
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Nancy Vieira
Traditional music vocal Benelux Booking |
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Pedro Caldeira Cabral
Instrumental music guitarra Portuguesa Benelux Booking |
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Rogério Bicudo
Samba - Choro zang, Violão, drums, bas, piano Worldwide booking |
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Siba e a Fuloresta
Samba blazers, percussie Benelux Booking |
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Solis String Quartet
Fusion / World Jazz Violino,Viola,Cello Worldwide booking |
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Spaccapaese
Traditional music zang, percussie, gitaar, toetsen Worldwide booking |
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Genre |
Cast/Lineup |
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Cabo Verde / Kaapverdische Eilanden |
Fusion / World Jazz |
voice, acoustic guitar, Wurlitzer, acoustic bass, double bass, percussion, acoustic piano
Carmen Souza - Voice, Acoustic Guitar and Wurlitzer; Theo Pas'cal - Acoustic Bass and Double Bass, Paulo Rosa - Percussion, Victor Zamora - Acoustic Piano.
Invited live musicians for Carmen Souza Quartet:
Paulo Sérgio-Piano
Victor Zamora-Piano
Tiago Santos-Guitarra
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| Biography |
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 sign 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, say 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. “ say 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.' Says Con Murphy on FlY(UK) |
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| Carmen Souza |
Carmen Souza (1982) is in Lissabon geboren en komt uit een christelijke, Kaapverdische familie.
Omdat haar vader door zijn werk op zee regelmatig lange tijd van huis was, leerde Souza al op jonge leeftijd wat Sodade (heimwee) betekent. Thuis spraken haar ouders Crioulo: het Kaapverdische dialect. Souza groeide dus op met de Kaapverdische cultuur en de Portugese cultuur.
In 2005 kwam Souza’s eerste album uit: Ess ê nha Cabo verde. Haar optreden op het WOMAD-festival datzelfde jaar betekende haar internationale doorbraak.
Op Verdade, haar tweede album (2008), brengt Carmen Souza een opzwepend, melodieus sidderend repertoire in het Crioulo ten gehore. ‘Verdade’ betekent waarheid en dit is volgens Matt Forss van Inside World Music (USA) een treffende titel vanwege ‘de ongelooflijke waarachtigheid die de muziek van Carmen uitademt’.
Souza geeft het Crioulo een geheel nieuw en uniek geluid, door traditioneel Afrikaanse en Kaapverdische ritmes (zoals de Batuque, Morna en de Cola Djon) te mixen met invloeden uit de hedendaagse jazz. Het resultaat is een aantal prachtige, scherpe en inspirerende nummers in een zeer intieme en akoestische setting.
Carmen Souza heeft inmiddels met veel succes op diverse grote podia gestaan. Zo was trad zij op bij het Womad-festival, het Toronto Afro Fest-Canada, het Bray Jazz-festival in Ierland en het Ulsan World Music Fest in Zuid-Korea. Met een onmiskenbaar vrouwelijke, donkere, diepe en aardse stem slaagt ze er telkens opnieuw in om grote indruk op haar publiek achter te laten. |
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| Carmen Souza: Discography |
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| Carmen Souza Protegid |
 Price: € 20 |
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| Publisher |
Year |
| GALILEO - DIST BY LC MUSIC IN BENELUX |
2010 |
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| Track |
Time |
Detail |
| -M Sta li ma bo |
04:04 |
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| -Afri Ka |
05:39 |
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| -Dos Eternidade |
04:39 |
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| -Tente Midj |
04:12 |
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| -Protegid |
03:50 |
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| -Dxam ess moment |
03:44 |
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| -Sodade |
04:28 |
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| -Song for my Father |
06:09 |
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| -Kem e bo |
03:54 |
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| -Magia Ca tem |
06:12 |
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| -Decison |
04:45 |
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| -Mara Marga |
04:25 |
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| Publisher |
Year |
| Connecting Cultures Records |
2008 |
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| Detail |
| VERDADE is the exciting and melodically vibrant new album from the young Cape Verde singer CARMEN SOUZA. Like its predecessor Ess ê nha Cabo Verde, Verdade is elegant in it's acoustic simplicity and instrumentation. It features Carmen on guitar, piano / Wurlitzer and vocals, Theo Pas'cal bass, double bass and percussion, and a percussionist/drummer. The arrangements on Verdade, however, have more space and complement each other, allowing the message of Carmen's songs to communicate to the listener even more clearly. |
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| Carmen Souza Ess ê nha Cabo Verde |
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| Publisher |
Year |
| TheOo TheZz |
2005 |
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| Track |
Time |
Detail |
| -Bonanca |
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| -Vide e pa celebra |
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| -Mar na Corazon |
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| -Oia |
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| -Nha Deus |
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| -S'm pudesse fala |
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| - Nha Praia |
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| -Cabo Verde (nha Terra) |
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| -Por tud qui bo |
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| -Tristeza (d'Vida) |
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| Detail |
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. |
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| Carmen Souza “Verdade” REVIEWS |
"Her Cape Verde tradition is as soft and sensitive as a Laura Nyro ballad, it’s a smoky, dive bar Cape Verde of subtle progressions and syncopations, of Rickie Lee Jones harmonies and Diana Krall Crooning... The result is a mellow but musically complex record that sounds pleasant at first and gets progressively more interesting on each subsequent listen.
by Alex Robinson, SONGLINES, UK
"Cultured singer who puts her own jazz spin on the music of her ancestral home, Cape Verde."
by Clive Davis, THE TIMES, UK
"Cape Verdean musical riches abound on Carmen Souza's Forthcoming album, Verdade ... distinctive fusion of classic, lilting Cape Verdean musical forms and Jazz."
Five Best gigs to see by Tim Cumming at THE INDEPENDENT Uk
"Smouldering Cape Verdean afrobeat tinged folk jazz"
TIME OUT UK
" Verdade (Truth) is a crisply produced acoustic album... 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..."
by Con Murphy, FLY UK
"... what makes Carmen Souza sound unique is her compositions and her «Soul» Diva voice, that creates a kind of Contemporary Jazz based on the warmth and energy of the African melody."
by Nádia Morais on África Today Magazine, Portugal
"Die junge kapverdische Sängerin Carmen Souza hat ein wunderbar ausdrucksstarkes, zugleich zurückgenommenes, fast erotisches Stimmorgan... Die Musik ist durchdacht, intelligent, auf handgespielte Gitarren, Bässe und Drums konzentriert. Aber immer wieder auch auf die unverzichtbare Perkussionsinstrumente, die den kulturellen Hintergrund und die große musikalische und kulturelle Bedeutung des winzigen Inselstaates, den Kapverdischen Inseln, untermauern... Wer auf kapverdische Musik steht, wird sich bei “Verdade“ zu Hause fühlen."
7/10 by Michael Arens at SOULTRAIN, Germany |
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