RFI Musique: Cesaria, your new album Sao Vicente di longe comes a full ten years after Mar Azul, but it's still packed full of references to Cape Verde. Do you still carry that feeling of saudade deep within your heart?

Cesaria Evora: Well, I live in Cape Verde. And Sao Vicente di Longe was written by a Cape Verdian songwriter currently living in exile in Angola, so it's normal for him to be filled with saudade - that yearning homesickness - for his native isle. I'm like all Cape Verdians, I get that feeling of nostalgia and homesickness too whenever I'm away abroad. I think saudade is something that's deeply anchored in myself and my compatriots.

Listen a first sound extract of Cesaria new album : Esperança Irisada

RFI Musique: Musically speaking, Cape Verdian saudade sounds remarkably similar to the blues. In fact, critics have often referred to you as the tropical Billy Holiday. Do you feel you've got blues roots in you somewhere?
Cesaria Evora: I think there's a certain similarity there somewhere, yes, because with the blues you always get this sense of suffering, this sense of what black Americans went through in their history. And Cape Verdians experienced the same kind of thing during the colonial era and came up with the same way of expressing their suffering. I have to say when I went to Lisbon recently to entertain an audience of Portuguese VIPs, I insisted on singing in Creole and playing morna. I really wanted morna to take pride of place - I never wanted to sing fado!

RFI Musique: How did your new album end up being recorded in so many different places, taking you from Paris to Cuba and Brazil?
Cesaria Evora : Well, I started out working on the rhythms of the new songs with my Cape Verdian musicians in Paris. Then I flew out to Cuba to work with the musicians from the Orquesta Aragon. I also went into the studio out there to record Negue with Chucho Valdez. After that I nipped back to France to make a few improvements. Then I flew out to Rio to hook up with Caetano Veloso who added his vocals over the top of the music my group had recorded in Paris. When it came to recording the duet Tiempo y silencio with Pedro Guerraavec, it was Pedro who made the trip that time round. He flew from Rio to Paris to join us in the recording studio. The final mix of the album was also done in Paris.

RFI Musique: Your new album features three duets, all recorded with male singers. Are you still a bit of an old romantic at heart?
Cesaria Evora : Yes, of course I am! It's interesting, Caetano Veloso and I go back a long way. I met him for the first time in 1994 when he sang Negue with me … But I don't just sing with men, you know. I've performed with some great women too - like Marisa Monté, for example - and I'm soon going to be working with a Polish singer called Kaya. When it comes down to it, it's not a question of gender, it's whether you get a good vibe from another singer or not.

Listen a second sound extract : Crepuscular Solidao

RFI Musique: How do you feel about the fact that over the past ten years your music has enjoyed such phenomenal success around the world, scoring a hit with younger music fans as well as their parents?
Cesaria Evora : Well, after spending so many years struggling to make a living from my music, it's funny to wake up and find I've become an international name. I mean, these days I get to work with all the biggest stars from Brazil and the United States - and I have to admit, that's something I really enjoy!

RFI Musique: Becoming an international figure in the course of your career means that you've made Cape Verdian music as famous as bossa nova or blues …
Cesaria Evora : Well, Cape Verdian music existed long before I came along, but I've been lucky enough to take it overseas and help it travel and I think it's OK to take a bit of credit for that. You know, in the early days of my career people were always coming up and asking where Cape Verde was. I must say, that's a question I get asked a lot less these days!

RFI Musique: These days we're seeing a lot of old artists like Compay Segundo and Henri Salvador making a big comeback after all these years. Do you feel you were a bit of a precursor when it comes to the modern 'revival' trend?
Cesaria Evora : No. But it's true that we'd completely forgotten Cuban music and then along comes Compay, who's well over 90 now, and he breathes new life into all those old Cuban rhythms. I think that's really wonderful. I'm also amazed at La Viela Guarda do Portel over in Brazil - they're these old women who beat out these ancient samba rhythms on their thighs. They're really something. Musicians like that really deserve to be better known.

RFI Musique: You're coming up for 60 now and you still seem to have an impressively long career ahead of you. How long are you planning to keep up the pace?
Cesaria Evora : Well, I turn 60 in August and I hope to keep going for a long time yet. Having said that, though, I don't ever want to be in a position where I get up on stage on crutches or find myself doing concerts if my voice has gone. Following in Compay's footsteps and performing when I'm in my 90s is not one of my overriding goals.

RFI Musique: How do you feel about the fact that DJs have taken to making remixes of your songs? When you listen to these remixes do you feel that your originals have been distorted in some way?
Cesaria Evora : Well, I've listened to quite a few remixes, but I never feel it's really 'my' music. I'm a lot more calm and sedate than that! I think it's great for young people though. I've listened to quite a few remixes at home, you know, and I've even heard young Cape Verdian singers rapping along to . I can't say I'm a big fan of that kind of music, but young people love it. Young rappers have got this amazing talent for playing with words - my problem is, I can't understand half of what they're saying!

RFI Musique: What about techno?
Cesaria Evora : Well, I can't say I'm a big fan of techno either, but I don't mind it. My favourite singers are Nat King Cole - if he were still alive today, I'd have done anything to meet him! Then there's Frank Sinatra, Edith Piaf, Amalia Rodrigues. For me, they're the truly great artists, the ones who get straight to my heart. The only one of my favourite singers who's still alive today is Charles Aznavour. I saw Aznavour in concert recently at the Palais des Congrès in Paris and went backstage after the show. I went down to his dressing-room and gave him a big kiss. We had a bit of a chat and then he gave me his new CD album and I gave him mine - now we're the best of friends!

RFI Musique: You actually wrote one of the songs on your new album, didn't you? Is this the start of a songwriting career?
Cesaria Evora : No, absolutely not. I'm not a songwriter at all. It was a coincidence, that's all. I was sitting at home one day waiting for a friend to return my car. There I was at home waiting, but there was no sign of my friend and as time dragged on I was getting more and more annoyed. Anyway, this other friend was listening to me complaining and he said, "If we wrote down everything you've just said we could turn it into a song!" And my reaction was like "Oh, do you think so?" Anyway, I took his advice, got out pen and paper and started writing there and then. I took out all the strong language I'd been using, of course, and we ended up turning the situation into a song. It's funny really - it was me who really needed the car to go out shopping and someone else was swanning around in it instead. Then I went and got all worked up about things and ended up with a new song!

Listen a last sound extract: Pic Nic Na Salamansa

Interview: Pierre René-Worms

Translation: Julie Street

New album: "Sao Vicente di longe" CD BMG/Lusafrica 74321 836662
Photo on the homepage courtesy of: Eric Mulet/ BMG Lusafrica

If you want to know more about Cesaria, just look at her biography