Cabo Verdean
Brockton, Massachusetts
Photo: Awgwshto Pires
The lilting strains of Cabo Verdean music, a blend of African and Portuguese influences, are a familiar sound in coastal New England. The region is home to large, established communities of Cabo Verdeans, who first began immigrating to the region in the early 19th century. Maria “Lutchinha” Neves Leite of Brockton, Massachusetts, arguably the finest Cabo Verdean singer to make her home in the United States, will delight audiences with the soothing, soulful sounds of this distinctive musical tradition at this year’s Richmond Folk Festival.
The Republic of Cabo Verde is comprised of 10 islands that span an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean. The islands, off the coast of Senegal in West Africa, were uninhabited until the mid-15th century, when the Portuguese created a colony there, establishing a major hub in the transatlantic slave trade. Enslaved Africans soon became a major segment of the population, and the mix of Portuguese and African cultures led to the development of a unique language, Crioulo, and several beautiful musical styles.
With the decline of the transatlantic slave trade, the region lost its economic prominence. What began as a focused and relatively small emigration increased as Cabo Verde suffered a series of natural and economic disasters. Cabo Verdeans began arriving in the U.S. as crews on whaling ships and found work in the Massachusetts and Rhode Island whaling and fishing industries, often owning their own boats. These immigrants brought with them their language, foodways, and music. Cabo Verdean traditional music includes morna (made world famous by singer Cesaria Evora), which explores themes of love and mourning; and batuque, originally a women’s singing genre with a satirical bent. Cabo Verdeans also imported the coladeira, a musical and dance form that is variable and often satirical.
Maria Neves Leite was born on the island of Sao Vicente, Cabo Verde, and has performed worldwide with other major Cabo Verdean artists for almost 40 years. She started singing at age seven, first with her father and later with family friends who visited the house. Lutchinha’s first solo album, Castanhinha, bears the title of a morna that her father wrote for her mother, a song that the singer has never stopped performing. She went on to become one of the winners at the Todo Mundo Canta singing competition, representing her island of Sao Vicente in Praia. Engagements in the Soviet Union (representing Cabo Verde in 1988) and in Portugal soon followed, which launched a highly successful career before Lutchinha joined her parents in immigrating to the U.S.
The family settled in Brockton, Massachusetts, where Lutchinha continued to perform at Cabo Verdean weddings and other community events, while also raising a family and working as a home visitor counseling young parents in American child-rearing customs. More recently, she has released two additional albums and has organized local Carnival celebrations, where she passes on the songs and dances of Cabo Verde to the next generation, reflecting, “We want kids who were born here to have that culture in them.” It is a special pleasure to feature this world-class singer, so deserving of broader recognition, at this year’s festival, where she will be joined by an all-star band of Cabo Verdean musicians from New England.