AFTER HER, JAZZ WONT BE THE SAME: Carmen Souza arrives in Nisville! (PHOTO) (VIDEO)

Carmen Souza, one of the most respected jazz and "world music" singers of the new millennium and one of the most influential authors when it comes to contemporary music in general will perform with her band at this year's Nisville , on the first day of the festival -Thursday August 13th.

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Although Carmen Souza's career is growing 10 years strong, this young singer, composer, songwriter and instrumentalist (she plays the piano and the guitar) has undoubtedly become a striking force in the world music direction, but also one of the most popular jazz singers. Her unique style and her family roots  built the foundation for a new direction that can be called "worldly jazz."

Carmen Souza was born in Lisbon, but her music has strong influences from the traditions of Cape Verde or Cabo Verde (as  is the official name of the island located in the Atlantic ocean, from which originates the famous Cesaria Evora), this is where her parents are originally from. She began doing music professionally at the age of 17, in a gospel choir named "Shout". Shortly after, she participated in several projects ranging from junk and soul, to jazz and world music. Even then, her compositions were on the repertoire of bands that she was then singing and performing with.

Foto: Promo / Nisville Jazz Festival

Carmen's first album, "Ess e nha CAbo Verde", published in 2005 took two full years to make. Her wish was to create a unique sound, through a mixture of traditional rhythms of Africa and its homeland, such as Batuki, Morna, Kola Sole and contemporary jazz aswell as soul influence. Her effort certainly paid off- as was confirmed by the excellent reviews from audiences and critics. This album, sung in a Creole dialect (of her ancestors), was characterized as a fantastic story about the musical evolution of music from the Zealot Island.

The reputation of the Jazz and "world music" scene's new hope, was confirmed by Carmen's new album, "Verdade", released in 2008,where she plays guitar and electric piano. However, her spot at the top was thanks to her third album, "Protegid" (Protected) from 2010. For this album, acclaimed by critics around the world and voted one of the best of that year. Carmen has composed most of the songs and written almost all the lyrics, and critics have already compared her with the world's divas.

With a few more albums released in the meantime, Carmen Souza had several tours in concert halls throughout Europe and the USA , live performances in TV studios ( RAI , BBC , ZDF ... ) and has participated in prestigious festivals: The North Sea Jazz Festival , London African Music Festival , Leverkusener Jazztage Festival ( where she performed together with Mariza ) , San Francisco Jazz Festival , Monterey Jazz Festival , Montreal Jazz Festival ...

Apart from being a composer, Carmen Souza has a very impressive version of jazz standards .

(Telegraf.co.uk)