Press

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Port’Inglês (2024/Galileo)


>CHARTS<
#5 (Dec) #18 (Oct) #13 (Nov) World Music Charts Europe 
Top 40 Best Albums of the year 2024 - World Music Charts Europe
#12 (3rd Quarter 2024) LIMúR: Raiz Iberian Roots Music Chart /
Lista Ibérica de Músicas de Raíz
#26 (Dec) #28 (Oct) Transglobal World Music Chart

REVIEWS

4**** " amazingly accomplished, fresh and exciting, as if it were a new found revelation"
Goncalo Frota-SONGLINES MAGAZINE-UK

"the 43-year-old Portuguese singer is a master of scat singing as well as jazz...Depending on the song, Carmen Souza sings in a gently flattering way, then again edgy and temperamentally gripping. The Portuguese singer is responsible for the expression, she counteracts the band's improvisation-heavy work of art with a strong, clear voice. Her feeling for subtle dynamics and blues lines is astonishing...Port'Inglês does not offer music that caters to conventional listeners' tastes or tries to follow any trend. Instead, the album, recorded in Portugal and Great Britain, is an impressive testimony that trusts in the power and intensity of its own music and blurs the boundaries between culture-specific musical styles."
Jürgen Spieß - Interkultur_Stuttgart magazine -DE

9/10 "Each of these are songs in which Souza can display her immense class and the sum of all this brings us to a great, varied album by an exceptionally strong singer, accompanied by a club of more than excellent musicians." Dani Heyvaert - Muziekwereld (NL)

"Carmen Souza‘s latest offering is as engaging and danceable as her music has always been." Rhythm Passport - UK

"unmistakable, sultry and marvelous jazz trained voice"
World Music Central - US

"Beautiful musical stories full of landscapes, colors and sunshine. Carmen Souza's soothing voice and feminine, flirty singing never fail to impress." Jazz-fun.de - DE

"sheer delight" Folk Wales - UK

4****"Souza lets her velvety voice blossom in jazzy and Cape Verdean rhythms as well as fado vibes." Audio Magazine - DE

"When music is described as ""academic,"" it is rarely meant as praise. Terms like "constructed", "sober" and "schematic" are too swinging. Carmen Souza proves with her album Port'Inglês, however, how emotional, joyful and lively music with academic roots can be."
Jazzthetik Magazine - DE

"The album is revealing, spacious in terms of sound, inspiring, sensual and of an unusual beauty...The excellences jump out at you from the first listen...unofficial soundtrack to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of independence...Enjoy, discover, learn, get excited: what is said to be a long half-hour very well spent."

"In this new release, Souza confirms the ability with which she already shone in previous releases. In Port’Inglês, a truly tested group once again shines, giving everything it needs to be perfectly attractive....superb album."

"Souza, jazz singer and songwriter
with Cape Verdean roots, their trademark is the connection of jazz as a language
and expression of freedom with traditional rhythms such as Funana, Contradance, Morna
or Mazurka.... the extremely diverse, sensitively balanced arrangements of her long-time musical partner Theo Pascal and the moving voice of Carmen Souza give a remarkable journey of discovery into the past an intensely relatable topicality." 
Tobias Boker - Jazzpodium magazine - DE

"‘Port'Ingles’ is a reflection of the complexity of Cape Verde and is being published the same year that Portugal celebrates the anniversary of the Carnation Revolution." 
Musix Magazine - DE

"The album impresses with its timbres, the special mix of jazz and traditional Cape Verdean rhythms, but above all with Carmen Souza's versatile voice."
SWR KULTUR- DE

"On the new album, all of the compositions are by Pascal, while Souza contributes the profound lyrics that revolve around decolonization and freedom. Comparisons with Billie Holiday, Nina Simone or Cleo Laine testify to Souza's class, but she has now found her own language between jazz and world music. Feather-light songs in Portuguese, sparkling, virtuoso piano solos, driving or sensitive rhythms of bass and drums, all recorded in audiophile format. 
33 minutes that fly by." JCP - DE

4**** "Carmen Souza has a range of fellow musicians, mainly of British and Portuguese origin, who enjoy improvising and whose virtuoso skills continue to push and blur stylistic boundaries." Leiss - ConcertoMagazine - AT

"It's simply great music!....One moment we hear the ethnic lilt that Cesaria Evora brought to the music, the next we hear the sound of the velvet voice of jazz legend Billie Holiday. This specific combination of both styles has built the vocal art of the charismatic and outstanding artist from Cape Verde. Her latest, extremely subtle album "Port Ingles" is the quintessence of her art, respect for tradition and great, charismatic vocals."

"it's very easy to fall in love with her velvety voice, because it has some teasing, a lot of emotion and, last but not least, a kind of scarf of singing that is softly wrapped around us, which is both shrill and soulful. She never raises her voice, she doesn't need to be loud, because she can touch the listener even softly. In addition, this way she gets much closer to me, sometimes as if she is standing right in front of me and whispers her lines in my ear."
Galgoczi Tamas - ekultura.hu - Hungary

"Each of these are songs in which Souza can display her immense class and the sum of all this brings us to a great, varied album by an exceptionally strong singer, accompanied by a club of more than excellent musicians. If I were you, I would go and listen!"
Dani Heyvaert - rootstime.be - Belgium


NL - 4**** Written in Music by Rik Van Boeckel 

RADIO
DE- Okerwelle 104.6 - Album of the month (Sep2024)
DE - SWR Kultur - TIP ALBUM
CH- SRF 
AT - OE1
En Ràdio Municipal de Terrassa. 95.2 FM 
PT - RDP Antena 2 - Raizes



TV

INTERVIEWS

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INTERCONNECTEDNESS (OCT2022)
#11 (Jan) #12 (Feb) @ World Music Charts Europe 2023

4 Stars - "Souza and Pas’cal have practically created a genre of their own and with each new record they test and stretch its limits a little further, whether they are flirting with the work of jazz great Horace Silver or expanding on their connection to Cape Verdean traditional styles....And it all comes together, as you’d expect, on ‘Interconnectedness’, a masterclass in claiming a global musical citizenship. A great example of a concept that does not trip on its own ambition."Gonçalo Frota - Songlines Magazine (UK)

4.5 Stars - " Souza presents sophisticated rhythms on her nylon guitar, which an illustrious group of musicians knows how to diversify. Also vocally and in terms of melody, the 41-year-old enchants all along the line. This beautiful album is an absolute recommendation for everyone who likes world music and wants to spend the autumn with warmth and lightheartedness."
 Acoustic Guitar Magazine (DE)

4 Stars - "Carmen Souza from Cape Verde and her partner Theo Pascal have created an album in Lisbon that goes beyond all categories. The cover versions are gorgeous: Nina Simone's "My Baby Just Cares For Me" has a completely new harmonic structure, vaguely reminiscent of Joni Mitchell's "Mingus", in the Musette hit "Sous le ciel de Paris" they change the beat in the middle. The galloping rhythm of their own songs is irresistible." 
Fono Forum, Karl Lippegaus (DE)

4 Stars "Varied, rhythmic and fascinating cd." 
InMusic Magazine (DE)

3.5 Stars "Against the odds given its familiarity the very original take on a song more identified with Nina Simone 'My Baby Just Cares For Me' proves zany and far more preferable to the title track, a credit to the production craft and arranging ideas exhibited throughout this feelgood album." Markbank.net (UK)

3 Stars " Her texture voice is as charming as ever, with a musical backing which references the Island of her birth skillfully mixed with her original even experimental style" 
JazzMag (FR)

"Carmen Souza masterfully shows that the voice is the human being's very own instrument. With admirable articulation, the Cape Verdean singer whizzes through high-scat passages or sinks into melancholic depths. Her voice: inflexible, agile, changeable." 
rbbkultur radio - "The Voice" (DE)

"Nothing is reinvented here, yet everything sounds fresh and full of surprises."
Folker (DE)

"Souza’s voice, and how she invents and reinvents it in each tune, is one of her several musical gifts, which include composing, arranging, and as a guitarist and percussionist. Her beat is mostly jazz standards infused with the more traditional sounds of Africa; her tones are as mellifluous as they are contemporary, and her renditions so intimate that her songs seem as if an extension of her very self.
Her vocals plumb deep, gritty reaches of sound, inhabit mid-ranges that cavort, cajole, and cackle, and ascend towards a peach-fuzzy, sweetened falsetto. She writes stunning lyrics that reveal her humanity and she co-fashions, with band member, Theo Pascal, intelligent arrangements to augment her vocals, drawing on inspiration from the physical world and the human condition...One must be thankful, not only for the luxuriant music of Interconnectedness, but that Souza has given so much of herself as well..." 
Carolina Amoruso, RootsWorld.com (USA)

TOP3 " With Interconnectedness, the Cape Verdean Carmen Souza offers a smooth and silk journey, mixing a Jazz bursting vitality from a World of meaning"
Avantages Magazine (FR)

"Carmen Souza brilliantly intertwines contemporary jazz, Cape Verdean rhythms, neosoul" 
World Music Central (USA)

INDISPENSABLE "Carmen Souza risque bien de trouver un public encore plus large que précédemment, non pas à cause des titres qu’elle réinterprète, mais parce que l’ensemble de cet album donne une forme poétique particulière et transculturelle. Et que ce soit du côté musical, vocal, ou encore de la pochette, tout indique l’évolution artistique de Carmen Souza sur cet album très intimiste et dont les arrangements musicaux sont particulièrement réussis.
Alors si vous aussi, vous vous intéressez à la culture, vous serez ici particulièrement servis, car il y a de quoi écouter, réfléchir, s’amuser… Tous les ingredients d’un album d’exception sont au rendez-vous!"
PARIS -MOVE (FR)

"CARMEN SOUZA revendique ses racines et elle revendique de créer un "World Jazz" qui fait la synthèse entre les mélodies de Césaria Evora et le chant écorché de divas comme Abbey Lincoln et Nina Simone....Ce disque est vraiment épatant dans la mesure où l'on sent vraiment le plaisir que cette artiste a eu à interpréter ces différents thèmes..."
jazzaseizheur.over-blog.com (FR)

Album of the week " The pretenders to the throne are legion since the disappearance of Cape Verdean Cesária Evora. Weaned from gospel and morna, the native of Lisbon has chosen a completely different path, more inclined to hybridizations that range from jazz to song, where her polyglot and polymorphic voice, capable of adopting many registers, fits naturally...the title theme leads to an astonishing mixture..." Jacques Denis, Libération Jornal (FR)

"Between Saudade and jazz, its caressing, tonic and joyful tone invites to celebration and sharing. Carmen Souza forged it with her identities. Cape Verdean origins, birth in Lisbon, life in London, the artist – compared to Cesaria Evora or Nina Simone – embodies a radiant presence. Her tenth album, airy and sunny, combines seven original tracks and the delicious covers of My Baby Just Cares for Me, Sous le Ciel de Paris and Pata Pata."
Nathalie Lacube, La Croix L'Herdo (FR)

Concert review (La cigale) "Ces airs pulsés, ces pas chaloupés, la cause est entendue, à Carmen Souza lui vont comme un gant. De velours chamarré." 
Robert Latxague, Jazz Magazine (FR)

"Son style unique en lien avec ses racines a fait de l’artiste l’une des ambassadrices de la musique de l’archipel" CAP MAGELLAN (FR)

"Carmen Souza delivers with "Interconnectedness" a personal and magnificent work. Intensively sung and perfectly staged Percussionistically and Pianistically. Latin Jazz and Jazz, which is not only suitable for Jazz musicans, but for all music lovers."
Musix Magazine (DE)

"The incredibly energetic Cape Verdean Carmen Souza is still committed to jazzifying the musical forms of her archipelago. The new work "Interconnectedness" (Galileo MC), created in the tried and tested collaboration with their bassist Theo Pas'cal, is more playful, percussive and light-footed than the predecessors. In Dja Txiga" swinging ones dominate Melody with beautiful responses, the title track comes along as a relaxed mix of pop song and reggae. The classic "My Baby Just Cares For Me" is Slowed down to a folk-jazz piece, "Gratidon" stumbles briskly to the Funaná Boston. "
Jazz thing Magazine (DE) 

"Carmen Souza lets her Cape Verdean homeland shine through on "Inter connectedness", but with partner Theo Pascal she creates a very own version of jazz with pop appeal. With the smallest possible cutlery and unbridled enthusiasm there are even versions of 'My Baby just cares for me' and 'Pata Pata'."
Ohrenschmauch Magazine (DE)

"Carmen Souza tells stories from real life, immerses herself in melancholy and sparkles with a zest for life, supported by her African roots, she draws on a rich musical treasure. With her extravagant jazz voice, Carmen Souza blends jazz lines with Cape Verdean sounds, scatted, and caresses the melodies. Her songs sound exotic, fascinating and at the same time familiar. The mix of West African rhythms and contemporary jazz is her personal recipe, which Downbeat Magazine praised as a "recipe for artistic success"...The fact that Theo Pascal and Carmen Souza complement each other musically congenially after many years of successful collaboration is also evident on Souza's new album "Interconnectedness". Carmen Souza mostly sings in her native Creole language with intimacy, sensuality and liveliness. Her songs become a special listening experience because she combines the dancing lightness of West African music with jazz, modern soul and Portuguese fado music." 
Wegotmusic.de (DE)

Live review

Magazines
Jazz Magazine Au fil des voix LIVE REVIEW (FR)

TV

Radio

Live review:

"Carmen Souza: mais do que a sua versatilidade, dinâmica e linguagem musical riquíssima, esta artista atua com uma energia contagiante, fervorosa e ardente, de uma forma que eu nunca tinha visto antes (no bom sentido). É simplesmente indescritível todo o poder presente quer na sua voz potente e carregada de carisma, quer na sua música, dotada de um ritmo extremamente cativante e que deixa qualquer um de bom humor com a sua alegria aguda, sem barreiras.
Portanto, se tenho algo a dizer sobre Carmen Souza, sobre a sua música tão viva, tal como a própria, com um talento desmedido e estilo musical sem igual? Sim e começarei precisamente por este último..." Concerto Ovar em Jazz_Radio AVFM (PT)

" Entre o jazz e o funk, os blues e o funaná, a cantora trouxe-nos a diversidade de uma música rica de sons e cores, à boleia de “Interconnectedness”, o seu mais recente trabalho....O resultado foi uma hora e meia de puro prazer, no embalo de ritmos quentes pontuados pelo virtuosismo dos músicos em palco e pelo brilho da voz e do sorriso da cantora." 
Concerto Ovar em Jazz_Joaquim Margarido

"Lago Martiánez had the pleasure of opening the first of these 3 nights of festival concerts with the amazing jazz singer Carmen Souza. Along with her musicians, the artist managed to reach the audience as usual, as her sensitivity and her unique style are a gift to our ears."
Canarias Jazz fest (ES)

"El cuarteto liderado por @carmensouzatheopascal ejecutó un espectáculo, donde todos los músicos brillaron." Hondarribia Jazz Festival (ES)



 THE SILVER MESSENGERS (2019)
>Nominated for the Best Afro Jazz album @AFRIMAAWARDS 2019 (All Africa)
Jan FIP SELECTION CD "Carmen Souza rend un hommage vibrant à Horace Silver... Carmen Souza nous balade de l'ombre à la lumière avec sa voix profonde, voilée, terreuse, agile et sensuelle, un tantinet espiègle." FIP (FR)

 4****Downbeat Magazine (USA) "fascinating new disc...Souza infuses Silver’s repertoire with a few Cape Verdean creole musical idioms, such as funaná (an accordion-powered dance music) and the rhythmically rubato and social-conscious coladeira, as well as Northern Brazil’s pulsating duple-metered dance music, baião. She glides thorough these styles and in between sings in Portuguese, English and creole with supple ease and superb invention." John Murph

 4**** Songlines Magazine (UK) "What Souza creates is more than a fusion of two worlds, it´s simply beautiful music...It´s hard to imagine a more moving homage to one of her heroes." Gonçalo Frota

 4****"The Silver Messengers’ delivers as the ultimate tribute" 
Imran Mirza, UKVIBE.org (UK)

 4**** "In the interpretation of these songs she changes in a breath-taking speed from scat singing to virtuoso rapping and back" AUDIO Magazine (DE)

 4****Concerto Magazine (DE)

 4**** "Enthusiasm and energy deployed make this tribute welcome and move a discreet monument to the glory of this legendary musician that disappeared in
2014 and asserts Carmen Souza own talent whose voice and presence here are admirable." Jean Pierre-Jackson- Classical Magazine (FR)

 5***** " Her exceptional voice and courageous approach to music have earned her comparisons to artists such as Nina Simone and Eartha Kitt. But what makes it truly unique is the way it combines traditional African and Cape Verde rhythms with contemporary jazz." Patrick Spanko, skjazz.sk  

 4****RNR Magazine  (UK)
3*** Jazzwise (UK)
3*** "...she and her musicians put a Latin slant on everything but manage to keep the essence of Horace’s music intact" JazzJornal (UK)

 'SOUL SEARCHING: 'Superb from Carmen Souza' Marl bank (UK)

 "Her voice, singing technic, her grace and knowledge make her jazz loved worldwide...
A super cd" FOLKMAGAZIN (DE)

 "Carmen Souza her fellow musicians thrill the listener immediately and guarantee a very special musical enjoyment...Outstanding!" WEGOTMUSIC.DE (DE)

 "I was really surprised by the Portuguese-Cape Verdean singer Carmen Souza, who, with The Silver Messengers, brings a particularly beautiful tribute to the legendary American-Cape Verdean jazz pianist, singer and composer Horace Silver." 
Heaven Magazine (NL)

 "The band are terrific. Souza herself has a fabulously versatile voice – she can do a smokey blues contralto, but mostly favours high sweet dripping phrasing in the manner of Billie Holliday, or a slightly winsome Blossom Dearie...She can scat with the best of them" LondonJazzNews (UK)

 "This is absolutely the best of both worlds! It’s a wonderful introduction to the performances of Souza and the marvelous blend between Souza and Silver." 
Dave Rogers, WTJU 91.1Fm (USA)

 "Souza’s genius is her fresh weaving of traditional African and Creole rhythms with contemporary jazz and soul influences. But perhaps most distinctive is her singing. Echoing the tone and clarity of Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, Souza plays her voice like a musical instrument - expressing a deep range of lyrical emotion through high-low vibrato and rhythmic phrasing. As a lifelong fan and frequent player of Horace Silver’s music, Souza has just recorded a remarkable tribute album called The Silver Messengers...It plays like a full-scale history of world jazz and shouldn’t be missed." 32BarBlues (USA)

 "Listening to the music and the voice of Carmen Souza means immersing oneself in uncontaminated places of sunny beaches and turquoise waters in which the Jazz and the traditional music of Cape Verde, the Morna, meet to give life to alchemies of sounds, perfumes and polyrhythmic suggestions...Carmen Souza confirms herself as an eclectic artist with a fresh, sophisticated but accessible sound, and is among the most interesting protagonists of that World Music synonymous with zeroing distances and barriers between global traditions and cultures." Paulo Marra, AllaboutJazz.com (IT)

 "La aclamada compositora y vocalista caboverdiana entrega un fabuloso trabajo en que se alternan unas acertadas y emocionantes adaptaciones del repertorio original de Horace junto a un par de nuevas composiciones dedicadas al pionero. Esencial" 
Alex Garcia / Gladys Palmera (SP)

"The Lisbon-born singer, composer, guitarist and keyboardist Carmen Souza is irresistible with her musicality, warmth and playfulness. She sings as it falls into her...She is an artist whose whole revelation enriches the music." Lira Magazine (SE)

 Indispensable / A Must  "La longue complicité entre Carmen Souza et Theo Pascal fait de cet album un objet unique, et sans aucun doute le plus réussi de tous les albums de Carmen Souza....Carmen Souza gagne en profondeur, apportant l’espace nécessaire à son expression, n’en faisant jamais trop et arrivant avec justesse et beauté à nous faire ressentir les particularités de sa culture" Thierry Docmac Bayou Blue Radio (FR)

 TT (On aime beaucoup)" Grain nasillard et swing sensuel, scat ultratonique et trilles tout en nuances : la chanteuse cap-verdienne nous fait toujours craquer. Pas de raison que cela change avec son nouvel hommage au pianiste Horace Silver, qu’elle célèbre sur son prochain album (The Silver Messengers) dans un mélange de langues (portugais, anglais et créole) et d’influences, du hard bop aux musiques créoles." 
Anne Berthod (A.B.), Telerama Sortir  (FR)

 "Carmen Souza puise dans son héritage africain pour apporter un nouvel éclat au répertoire d’Horace Silver. " FRANCE MUSIQUE (FR)

"Elle chante en anglais et en créole pour ce coup de chapeau à la vie et à son illustre compatriote qui nous quitté il y a cinq ans" JAZZ RADIO (FR)

"La chanteuse et guitariste (…) signe avec cet opus un double hommage à ses racines et à l’universalité de la musique. " LA TERRASSE (FR)

"Le disque fait hard, et fait bop, Horace plane, et les cotes cap-verdiennes se dessinent au loin, c’est Carmen Souza et ses Silver Messengers ! "
DJOLO CULTURES D’AFRIQUE (FR)

"Un album inspirant dans lequel Carmen Souza revient à ce qu’elle fait de meilleur, en associant la particularité de ses vocalises Cap-verdiennes à un Jazz épicé "
PARIS MOVE (FR)

 "All this makes The Silver Messengers a beautiful example of how one can meaningfully update someone's music, bring it to a new environment, enrich it without distorting it." 
TESAŘ MILAN (RADIO PROGLAS) (CZ)

 "Souza’s genius is her fresh weaving of traditional African and Creole rhythms with contemporary jazz and soul influences. But perhaps most distinctive is her singing. Echoing the tone and clarity of Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, Souza plays her voice like a musical instrument - expressing a deep range of lyrical emotion through high-low vibrato and rhythmic phrasing. As a lifelong fan and frequent player of Horace Silver’s music, Souza has just recorded a remarkable tribute album called The Silver Messengers...It plays like a full-scale history of world jazz and shouldn’t be missed." 
32 Bar Blues Magazine (USA)

"Her outstanding talent as a vocalist is particularly evident in (6) the stunning transcendental scat of St Vitus Dance. A singer who can sing this difficult melody so expressively is unlikely. The jazzy arrangements and performances of Latin and Afro, as seen in Carmen Souza's previous work, are also fascinating." Music-terra.com (Japan)

Cd of the week @RDPAFRICA Radio (National Portuguese/Lusophone world Radio station) (PT)
Cd of the week @ Okerwelle Radio (DE)
Cd of the Week @Destak Jornal (PT)
Cd of the week @smoothjazz (PT)
Cd of the week @SR2 KulturRadio (DE)
Cd of the month @Radio Pays d´Hérault (FR)
Month Selection @ FIP (FR)
-World Music Charts Europe Best World Music CD´s 2020
-Nov. Europe Jazz Media Chart (best new Jazz cds for NOV 2019) @EuropeanJazzNetwork 
-Jan 2020 FIP SELECTION CD 
-#13 World Music Charts Europe (2 months on the chart Dec.Feb)
-#22 Transglobal World Music Chart ( 3months on the chart Nov.Jan.Feb)
-#15 Top 40 Night train@Wichita´s NPR Station Dec.2019 
-Top 10 cd of 2019 by Charlie Crooijamns @MixedWorldMusic Mag (NL)
-32 weeks on the Jazzweek Chart (USA)
-Best of 2019 @Oe1.orf.at (AT)
-Best of 2019 @Futurbeats / Radio Gladys Palmera (SP)
-#4 Top new albums week ending 29Nov @WRIR.ORG (USA)

 Feat interviews:
Correio da Manhã / Sexta Magazine (PT)
Jazzview (UK)
Publico/Ipsilon (PT)
Filhos da Nação (PT)
All About Jazz (IT)
Open Jazz par Alex Dutilh @Francemusique (FR)
Interview+Live - Musique du monde par Laurence Aloir @RFI (FR)
Interview @Portuguese RFI (FR)
Interview@Rotation on Reel Rebels (UK)
RTC (Cabo Verde National tv) (CV)

 Press radio/Jornal LIVE SESSIONS:
Smooth FM Radio Lady Musika Silver Blues (PT)
Corriere Della Sera exclusive (IT)
Publico (PT)
'The Silver Messengers" Live review:
Más Jazz Revista @feminajazz/ Madrid (SP)
No Solo Jazz @feminajazz / Madrid (SP)

"A magnificent concert which also showed the qualities of a great scorer of that which, without a doubt, is undoubtedly one of the best jazz voices of the current chessboard.
Carmen Souza, 39, is undoubtedly the figurehead of this new generation of conquering Cape Verdean music." Live review @sunsetsunsidejazzclub (Paris) by Tribute2Lartiste (FR)
 "Spectacular tribute to Horace Silver" Sussex Jazz magazine @TheVerdict (UK)

 Coolmag.it @BlueNoteMilano (IT)

 "I didn't see any other Carmen Souza concerts but I have to say that this one really impressed me at the Auditorium and for more than one reason. First of all the artist's extraordinary scenic mastery: Carmen does not resort to any stage artifice and on stage she is really elegant in her exquisite composure, relying completely on the talent she possesses in abundance. Her voice is very, very particular: centered mainly on the medium-low register, she is still able both to descend naturally into the lower tones and to rise upwards, higher. The timbre is mottled, sometimes scratchy, slightly hoarse to remember some of the great vocalists of the past." 
Online-Jazz.net @Roma Jazz Festival (IT)

 "In her music she blends Afro-Caribbean and Creole, saudade and jazz sounds in an original and unique way. Her voice is impressive, strong but flexible, able to pass easily from intimate tones to more sensual and lively ones" Aroundeventi @RomaJazz Festival (IT)

 Jazzwise Magazine @RomaJazz (IT)

 "A clear and vibrant timbre, endowed with a prodigious technique but without ever being a slave to it, touches the pieces with grace and unpredictability"
Pink Noises @RomaJazzFest (IT)

 "There is nothing artificial in the style of Carmen Souza: perfectly master of the scene, elegant and magnetic. A rhythmic cocktail that includes new melodies, exotic atmospheres and experiments with an African flavour. The Portuguese vocalist has an indisputable verve that recalls the personality of great artists such as Billie Holiday and Nina Simone."
Vocebluenews @RomaJazzFest (IT)

CREOLOGY (2017)

 4 STARS " Creology, an extraordinary album build around Creole sound and rhythms...is a great historical excuse for them to explore their unique and gorgeous Creole Jazz" SONGLINES - UK

"Souza, who also plays guitar and an idiosyncratic Fender Rhodes, cultivates a playful vocal style that defies easy categorisation. Ranging from feathery to earthy - Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan and Peggy Lee come variously to mind, all very different singers, to be sure - but no comparision does Souza justice...She projects a conversational, hard bop scat sensibility that is sui generis..." FROOTS - UK

 TT (On aime beaucoup) Concert preview@Télérama Sortier
"Un grain nasillard complètement craquant, un swing sensuel qui pétille, des sessions de scat ultratoniques… Le fidèle complice Theo Pascal (composition et arrangements) a toujours eu l’art de mettre en valeur les trilles vocales tout en nuances de la chanteuse cap-verdienne. Sur Creology, ils font le voyage de l’Afrique à l’Amérique : une traversée dans le sillage des anciens esclaves, joyeusement transcendée." 

 Anne Berthod (A.B.), TÉLÉRAMA-FR

 4STARS  "La belle Chanteuse transforme, à l'occassion de ce huitième album, son Cap-Vert originel en centre du monde, d'une créolité appariant l'Afrique du Mozambique et de l'Angola, Rio de Janeiro et La Havane. 
Un Voyage de la joie et de l'inventivité, alors que les ancêtres n'y avaient connu que le périple de l'esclavage? Et visiter Edu Lobo ou Horace Silver en une approche si pertinente et sensible, en une pratique mêlant classicisme, tradition, et modernité? Carmen Souza, Lumineuse. " Christian Larrede, M&C - LE SON DU MONDE - FR

4STARS  LIVE @CELTIC CONNECTIONS at The Scotsman by Sue Wilson - UK
"Portugese-born, of Cape Verdean parentage, opening act Carmen Souza was another of those enchanting surprises that Celtic Connections consistently springs, combining a jazz virtuoso’s vocal technique and range with an array of Lusophone influences, from fado to samba, morna to bossa and much more besides, including a bittersweet, almost Celtic-sounding ballad and a frisky, sunny-hued “Cape Verdean blues” in tribute to the islands’ national drink."

4 STARS LIVE @CELTIC CONNECTIONS at The Herald Scotland by Rob Adams - IRELAND
"Portuguese singer, guitarist and pianist Carmen Souza’s trio began in Brazil with Milton Nascimento’s Ponta de Areia and quickly established that their approach would be one of laid-back persuasion and quiet mastery. While Souza sang and scatted in voices that ranged from the childlike to the deeply sexy, her superb bassist, Theo Pascal and marvellously relaxed but alert drummer, Elias Kacomanolis often insinuated as much as stated the groove."

4 STARS “The new album by Carmen Souza and Theo Pascal is a little gem of joy and creativity…Carmen carries in her voice, sensual and enlightened, the marks of the sounds and modulations that influenced her, from the gospel (in childhood) to Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone or Billie Holiday...The fruitful joint work with the Portuguese bassist Theo Pascal, which she met at the age of 17, cemented her own path, where the roots of Cape Verde and Creole in general (with what it transports from the heritage of colonization, slavery, but also from the subsequent racial and cultural mestizos) jazz and Caribbean and Latin American rhythms.” PUBLICO - PORTUGAL

“Carmen Souza's Transatlantic Vocal Brilliance
Carmen Souza continues to explore Cape Verdean, Brazilian and other lusophone
influences interweaving jazz elements. Carmen’s vocal range continues to marvel, changing her pitch easily, from childlike voices to deep bass tones. She adds great vocal overdubs, plus male choruses and call and response sections.
Carmen Souza’s band is spectacular as always...Although Carmen Souza is widely-known as a vocalist, she showcases her talent as an instrumentalist as well, playing superb piano on her tribute to classic American jazz, “Pretty Eyes.”
Angel Romero, World Music Central - USA

 4 STARS "il percorso di Creology si snoda in modo sincero e coerente, portando più attenzione alla tradizione che a momenti d'autocelebrazione o a fusioni di sapore pop (l'unico, vagamente acid jazz è "London Light"). Le interpretazioni della Souza evidenziano maggior equilibrio ma continuano a colpire per l'eccentricità della dizione, l'evocatività dei suoni, la tensione espressiva e la varietà delle soluzioni: la sua è tra le voci più intense nel panorama contemporaneo, al di là di generi ed etichette. I suoi partner le forniscono un tessuto ritmico variopinto, quanto mai efficace ed appropriato..." ALL ABOUT JAZZ - IT
"Creology is a musical view of the history of slavery and colonization. Not sad or angry, but beautiful and cheerful." CC Vrije Geluiden - NETHERLANDS

"Many references have been used to describe the voice of Carmen Souza, from Nina Simone to Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan and Carmen McRae. They have even said that has something of Joni Mitchell, a point of Rickie Lee Jones and have come to describe her as Ella Fitzgerald Cape Verde. The truth, however, is that this singer born in Lisbon from Capverdian descent, has enough personality to stop comparisons and her new disc, Creology is a new exponent from exploring the sounds of the creole nation that generates a trip with stops in Cape Verde, Mozambique and Angola, but also in Brazil, Cuba finishing in New Orleans. "
Best concerts of the week_TIMEOUT BARCELONA - SPAIN

CDs of the week_"The evolution of Capeverdian music in jazz - this mission has been successfully committed to the jazz singer and songwriter Carmen Souza with Cape Verdean roots...Creology is the scientific discipline of the study of the Creole language. However, Carmen Souza makes her very own science out of it, providing with "Creology" a testimony of overcoming, optimism and the joy of life that resonates through the various typical rhythms such as Batuque, Funana, Semba, Quilapanga and Marrabenta...."
Tobias Ruhland, Kulturwelt BR.de - GERMANY

"The music of Carmen Souza is both deeply traditional and spectacularly modern and nowhere is this union better distinguished than on Creology...The performances of Carmen Souza, Theo Pascal, drummer Elias Kacomanolis and Pascal’s young and prodigiously talented son (drummer) Zoe prove that even in the crowded field of contemporary music there are new things to say. Even more to the point is the fact that this group says them with complete naturalness, for there is nothing contrived or attention-seeking about Souza and Pascal’s approach to this triangular union of the musical traditions of Africa and Cape Verde and Cuba. Their traversal of the music that results from this collision is spellbinding, and for all the right reasons....Each phrase and each lyrical line feels carefully considered and yet part of a bigger cumulative picture, and the warm details Souza’s singular voice – especially in her extended sighs of delight at the end of lines chosen by her – and of the musicians’ touch is captured in superb sound. This is spellbinding Carmen Souza and Theo Pascal music as you’ve never heard before and may be hard-pressed to experience again in such glory – unless they up the ante once again with another album of music like this in the near future." Raul da Gama, WorldMusicReport.com- CANADA
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“The thematic line doesn’t flow into a melancholic lament, but in a multi-cultural celebration, as colourful as the digipak.” cinesoundz.de - GERMANY

 "Dopo Katchpada e l’eccellente Epistola, Carmen Souza si ripresenta al pubblico internazionale con un nuovo bellissimo album. Il disco si intitola Creology e rappresenta un passo deciso verso la riscoperta dell’afro-sound, a partire dalle radici creole...." 
Giancarlo De Chirico, Extra! Music Magazine - ITALY
ENG: "After Katchpada and the excellent Epistle, Carmen Souza returns to the international audience with a new beautiful album. The album is called Creology and represents a decisive step towards the rediscovery of African-sound, starting with Creole roots." 
Giancarlo De Chirico, Extra! Music Magazine - ITALY

 "La sua musica ha la non comune capacità di farsi sentire nuova, fresca appunto, e allo stesso tempo universale, capace di colpire anche un pubblico diverso da quello dei jazz-fan.
In estrema sintesi si può definire il suo lavoro come un continuo crossover fra vari mondi musicali: il jazz, la musica africana (quella delle sue isole in particolare, nella lingua delle quali, il creolo, scrive quasi tutti i suoi testi), l'immenso giacimento sonoro del Brasile qui omaggiato con una rilettura di Upa Neguinho di Edu Lobo.
Jazzisticamente la Souza appare molto debitrice di Billie Holiday che sembra essere il suo nume tutelare soprattutto in certe incursioni nei registri più alti. Si possono sentire nel suo racconto anche tracce di Nina Simone, di Sara Vaughan (soprattutto nell'estrema "mobilità" emotiva del suo canto)...."Marco Buttafouco, JazzConvention - ITALY
ENG: "Her music has the uncommon ability to make himself feel fresh, fresh, and at the same time universal, able to hit a different audience than that of jazz-fans.
Ultimately, her work can be defined as a continuous crossover between various musical worlds: jazz, African music (that of its islands in particular, in the language of which the creole writes almost all of its lyrics) Brazil's huge sound field here omitted with a reinterpretation by Edu Lobo of Upa Neguinho.
Jazzically, Souza appears to be a debtor of Billie Holiday, who seems to be her guardian number especially in certain raids in the tallest records. You can hear in his tale also traces of Nina Simone, by Sara Vaughan (especially in the extreme "emotional mobility" of her song)...." Marco Buttafouco, JazzConvention - ITALY

 LIVE REVIEW_
"Successo per il concerto "Creology" al Museo archeologico nazionale, in programma per il Festival delle muse. Dal palco, Carmen Souza conquista il pubblico della "Sala letteratura", piena fino all'ultima sedia e con molte persone in piedi." 
LA REPUBBLICA NAPOLI  - ITALY
ENG: "Success for the concert "Creology" at the National Archaeological Museum, in program for the festival of the muses. From the stage, Carmen Souza conquers the public of the "Sala literature ", filled up to the last chair and with a lot of people standing."  
LA REPUBBLICA NAPOLI - ITALY

LIVE REVIEW_
"Un mosaico di suoni, sapienti giochi di voci e di storie, una fusione armoniosa di ritmi africani e tradizione jazz e soul..."ReggioTV - ITALY
ENG: "A mosaic of sounds, wise games of voices and stories, a harmonious blend of African rhythms and jazz and soul tradition..."ReggioTV - ITALY
LIVE REVIEW_ 
"Portoghese ma di origini capoverdiane, Carmen Souza (chitarra, piano e voce) assieme a Theo Pascal (basso elettrico e contrabbasso) ed Elias Kacomanolis (batteria e percussioni), ha letteralmente entusiasmato il pubblico accorso numeroso all’Hotel Miramare innanzitutto per un timbro ed una tecnica vocale unici, assieme ad una magnifica ampiezza della sua voce. E poi per la sua musica, capace di creare un tessuto armonico in cui le influenze musicali di Capoverde si fondono con quelle afro-brasiliane, cubane, fino ad arrivare al jazz di New Orleans...." Strill.it - ITALY
ENG:"Portuguese but of caboverdian origins, Carmen Souza (guitar, piano and voice) together with Theo Pascal (electric bass and double bass) and Elias Kacomanolis (drums and percussion), literally impressed the numerous guests at Hotel Miramare first for a stamp and A unique vocal technique, along with a magnificent amplitude of its voice. And then for her music, capable of creating a harmonious fabric in which the musical influences of Cabo verde blend with African-Cuban, Cuban, until they arrive at New Orleans jazz...."
Strill.it - ITALY

 "Carmen Souza nos ha deleitado con una voz particular, rica en matices, sosegada, sensual en algunas ocasiones, espontánea en otras. Su estilo alude nostálgicamente al pasado y al mismo tiempo es transgresora, evoca a las figuras del jazz de antaño y también ha logrado mantener su propio sello.  La inclasificable Carmen Souza llenó el Rincón del Jazz del Auditorio Alfredo Kraus con su estilo propio, que la caracteriza y que bebe de dos mundos, los clásicos sonidos norteamericanos y los ritmos criollos de Cabo Verde. Sobre el escenario estuvo acompañada por su inseparable bajista Theo Pascal y el batería Elias Kacomanolis, que ayudaron a la cantante caboverdiana a marcar el ritmo de la velada." Auditorio Alfredo Kraus - SPAIN
ENG: "Carmen Souza has delighted us with a particular voice, rich in nuances, calm, sensual in some occasions, spontaneous in others. Her style alludes nostalgically to the past and at the same time is transgressive, evokes the jazz figures of yesterday and also have been able to create her own stamp. The unclassifiable, Carmen Souza filled the Rincón del Jazz  Auditorio Alfredo Kraus with her own style, which characterizes and drinks from two worlds, the classic American sounds and the creole rhythms of Cape Verde. Accompanied by her inseparable bassist Theo Pascal and drummer Elias Kacomanolis, who helped the Cape Verdean singer set the pace for the evening." Auditorio Alfredo Kraus - SPAIN

EPISTOLA (2015)

4STARS + Jazz cd of the week - EVENING STANDARD "A Portuguese born jazz singer/songwriter of Cape Verdean descent, Souza smoulders on this seventh studio collaboration with bass virtuoso Theo Pascal, whose stark, expressive playing and compositional knack merit their own album...The duo’s longtime empathy is palpable here, as is their love of jazz, with Souza’s grit-and-sparkle vocals making shapes through songs that swing and prick and soothe...A gem."
Jane Cornwall - UK

4STARS JAZZWISE, Uk - "Utterly beguiling and constantly surprising"

 Top 5 Best Jazz Cds of October - MEZZO TV, FR

"Tantôt aérienne, tantôt tellurique, tantôt suave, tantôt frénétique, la voix de Carmen Souza nous interpelle, nous amuse, nous émeut autant qu’elle nous fascine."

Best cds of the October - Que tal Paris Magazine, FR

Concert of the Day - TSF Jazz Radio, FR

4Stars review + CD of the week - Music Story, FR

"Mémorable!" France Musique Live session, FR

"TTT On aime passionnément" - concert preview@Telerama Sortier, FR

CD of the day - Ping Ping Radio France Culture, FR

Top CDs of the week - BR Bayern2 Kultur, DE

 "...the music is the most beautiful kind that you can ever get to hear anywhere ..... Splendor Plate!" Dani Heyvaert - Rootstime.be, BE

 “Avec un héritage africain très présent, la chanteuse cap verdienne mêle dans ce live uneapproche jazz avec les sonorités du Cap Vert, scattant et caressant les mélodies de sa voixsensuelle et énergisante. Passant aisément de la mélancolie à l'allégresse, particulièrement surscène, Carmen Souza nous fait profiter de sa joie de vivre communicative.” Alex Dutilh, Open Jazz, Radio France Musique, FR

“Carmen Souza, comme Cesaria Evora, est originaire du Cap vert. A la croisée des musiquestraditionnelles et du jazz, elle chante en portugais et en anglais avec une voix éblouissante demusicalité et de swing. Une musique joyeuse, des chansons « voyageuses », une voixcaressante et une énergie élégante ... C’est une artiste superbe, à découvrir!”
Declic Magazine, FR

 "Goszcząca pierwszy raz w Polsce Carmen Souza, o głosie zbliżonym do głosu Billie Holiday, okazała się nie tylko pełną ekspresji wokalistką i sprawną instrumentalistką, ale i showmanką potrafiącą wciągnąć do wspólnej zabawy publiczność"
pisze Marek Zaradniak, Poland

"This perfectly oiled set mixes Cape Verdean rhythms such as morna, Funaná and Batuk with jazz...Epistola is an album that you have to give it time to sink in. The complex beauty of the compositions manifests itself only after a few spins." 
Bas Springer - Mixed World Music, NL

"Carmen Souza pose son identité capverdienne, ses mots en créole capverdien, en français ou en anglais, et cette voix inimitable, radieuse, entre ton mutin et moqueur."
Culture Box FR

"Extraordinary opening concert…Carmen Souza's voice is a marvel of nature without fanfare molds …that seems to have a pitch in the throat that makes it impossible to issue a note out of place.” Epistola Live review, Granada Hoy, SP

 "Carmen Souza inaugura con un apoteósico concierto el Festival de Jazz de Granada.” Epistola live review El Independiente de Granada, SP

“Carmen Souza has a perfect voice” Ideal.es, SP

"Os temas são cantados em Crioulo, Português, Francês e Inglês, seguindo precisamente o espírito do world jazz. Além dos fundamentos africanos e dos formatos do bop e do pós-bop (na promoção do CD são mesmo reivindicadas as influências de John Coltrane e Ornette Coleman), são também detectáveis referências na MPB, um ou outro padrão rítmico latino e algumas das atmosferas do jazz português, ou não tivessem as carreiras de Souza e Pascal arrancado no nosso país…. com canções entusiasmantes a nível composicional e de execução… nunca jazz e Cabo Verde estiveram tão juntos como aqui desde que Silver lembrou as suas origens." 
Rui Eduardo Paes, jazz.pt, PT

"Inimitable is Carmen Souzas voice. A voice, that carries warmth and melodie the same way as crudeness and edginess" Jazzthetik, DE

"The portuguese Jazz singer and songwriter Carmen Souza, who presents herself on Epistola also as versed guitarist undertakes together with bassist Theo Pascal a loose and rthymically varied tripo to her capeverdean roots adding Latin, Bebop, Jazz and traditional portuguese music" AMM Magazin, DE

"With thrifty support from other instruments the two (Carmen and Theo) are jazzying and improvising through 9 original compositions plus covers of Horace Silvers "Cape Verdean Blus" and Glenn Millers "Moonlight Serenade". Very interesting variant"
Ohrenschmaus, DE

4STARS "The singer with capeverdean roots changes in her lyrics continously between creole, portuguese and french to create a swinging ethno felling. In contrast there are wide tensed, freestyle jazz excursions that literally stage the vocalist roller coaster rides"
InMusic, DE

4STARS MUSIC/4STARS AUDIO , Audio.de, DE

 "Theo Pascal and Carmen Souza are plainly on a roll and long may it continue…
 throughout “Epistola” Pascal is superb whether on electric or upright bass; the album ends with a cover version of “Moonlight Serenade” that is just wonderful. This old chestnut by Glenn Miller with lyrics by Mitchell Parish dates from a period in jazz that is much derided but with Souza’s hushed, heartfelt vocals and acoustic guitar, Pascal’s melodic electric bass combined with percussion that keeps tempo much faster than previous versions such as Sinatra’s, this closing track showcases these musicians at their incandescent best. To sum up, the music on “Epistola” is inventive, joyous, characterised by lightness of touch leaving virtually everyone else in the shade." Ben Robertson, Africanjazz.net, UK

 “This new album is “a letter with sound addressed to anyone who is ready to receive it”; I say we all need to be ready to receive if only to feel we have listened to a magnificent rendition of how music and words can work together so well, they create poetry...another collaboration between Carmen Souza and Theo Pascal - Praise the Heavens for that! With a voice like Carmen and the bass playing like Theo, we cannot go wrong."
 Erminia Yardley, UKvibe.org, UK

 “Carmen Souza and Theo Pascal reveal with majesty and rhapsody the radiant beauty of this music…Such is the visceral intensity of this music-making that a certain girding of the loins may be required before you listen (to this music) again and again… and again…”
Raul da Gama, Latin Jazz Network, USA

"Carmen Souza et Theo Pascal nous écrivent de merveilleuses
cartes postales musicales..." Jean-Jacques Dikongué, Tribune2Lartist, FR

CD/DVD_LIVE LAGNY JAZZ FESTIVAL, 2014

5 STARS "Une artiste impressionnante. Chanteuse charismatique, Carmen Souza scatte à la manière d’Ella Fitzgerald et passe de l’aigu au grave avec une virtuosité certaine. Tantôt suave, tantôt mélancolique dans Live at Lagny Jazz festival, elle s’approprie avec simplicité et malice le fameux « sodade » si cher à la Diva au pieds nus (ndlr Cesaria Evora). Elle joue de la guitare, du piano et utilise sa voix tel un instrument.
 Dans cet album, ses reprises de My favorite things - John Coltrane - et Donna Lee – standard du jazz composé par Miles Davis – prouvent, s’il en était besoin, tout le talent de cette artiste. Elle réussit la prouesse de s’approprier des classiques du jazz sans les dénaturer."  Eva Dréano, AFRICAVIVRE, FR

5STARS "La chanteuse a ainsi trouvé sa voi(e)x dans un métissage réussi des rythmes africains et capverdiens et du jazz contemporain...Piochant dans son répertoire quelques succès, Carmen y présente aussi trois inédits, dont un reprise sublime d’Edith Piaf « Sous le Ciel de Paris ». On retrouve alors son scat énergique, sa voix sensuelle, généreuse et polymorphe ainsi que sa joie de vivre communicative."
Nicolas Hillali, NOUVELLE VAGUE MAGAZINE, FR

5 STARS (CD of the week)"Carmen Souza is one of a kind—an original as rare as a throat singer and as exquisite as a vocalist who combines the best of Billie Holiday and Elis Regina—whose time has certainly come. Carmen Souza’s star is certainly on the rise. Her performances are riveting; she has a sensuous manner and her delicate swaying to the music seems to suggest that her body absorbs the melodies and harmonies of her songs that are surely made deep down in her soul."
Raul da Gama, Latin Jazz Network, USA

4STARS "Dizzying articulation in Miles Davis bebop standard `Donna Lee ´...dusts down her definitive take on Horace Silver´s ´Song for my Father´...mesmerising, self-penned chanson ´Sous le Ciel de Paris´...When she sings what, for her, comes closest to a traditional Cape Verdean morna in the shape of ´6 on na Tarrafal´, her voice flexes and folds into Hitherto unknown strata of melancholy."
SONGLINES, UK

4 STARS - JAZZ MAGAZINE, FR

"Whether you are under the sky of Paris, or in the basement of the label, ending up with Carmen Souza is a real experience...A moment of grace, a perfect moment."
Le Cargo!, FR

 "...sublime artiste..."
Concertlive.fr, FR

"Souza’s vocal matches the cool wail of Parker’s sax, and the accordion mixes world sounds with bop licks..."James Reaney, The London Free Press, CA

 "Thanks to the warmth of the performance and the inordinately tight
arrangements, the entire audience fell in love with vocalist and guitarist Carmen Souza's music. and what an extraordinary voice."
Jazzwise Magazine, Peter Quinn, Live review Revoice! Festival,
Pizza express Jazz Club, London, UK

"Que peut-on découvrir dans ce Cd live qui n’ait encore été proposé dans les albums de cette jazzwoman? C’est en cela que les artistes se distinguent. C’est-à-dire qu’ils possèdent pour certains, et c’est le cas de Carmen Souza, cette capacité à vous transporter dans le temps et vivre les événements comme si vous y étiez rien qu’en les écoutant. Au Cd, s’ajoutent deux chansons inédites, qui symbolisent la variété stylistique de cette belle artiste aussi gentille que performante. C’est en cela que Carmen Souza est une grande et grosse pointure de la musique.  Et qu’il n’est en rien exagéré lorsque l’on s’accorde à la comparer aux grands noms tels que : Billie Holiday ou Nina Simone. Ecouter la sublime interprétation de « Donna Lee »pour vous laisser convaincre si besoin était."
Jean-Jacques Dikongué, Tribune2lartiste.com, FR

"Carmen Souza, c'est une voix empreinte de chaleur, d'un vibrato unique comme le ronronnement mais également d'une montée dans les aigus parfaitement domptée. La chanteuse joue avec ses cordes vocales comme d'un instrument. "
SUDPLATEAU TV, FR

"un album live somptueux, étonnant, vient juste de paraître, enregistré en octobre 2013 au festival jazz de Lagny. S’y exprime sa voix douce ou provocante, qui a séduit un public important avec l’album Kachupada en 2012, en « scattant » comme les plus grandes ou en caressant ses notes en même temps que ses cordes de guitare. On songe à une Ella égarée au pays de Cesaria. L’énergie qu’elle communique est juste vivifiante…"
 Jean-Yves Dana, La Croix,  FR

"Le coup de coeur reviens à définitivement à Carmen Souza qui pose son Jazz façon Cap-Vert, avec une virtuosité et une facilité déconcertante. On revisite d’ailleurs une partie du répertoire classique du Jazz avec une magnifique version de « Song For My Father » de Horace Silver et « My Favorite Things« ."
Live review Festival Aux Fil des voix - Paris, Ziknation, FR

"Carmen Souza, une artiste libre à la voix inclassable"
Cap Magellan, FR

"Avec un héritage africain très présent, la chanteuse cap verdienne mêle dans ce Liveune approche jazz avec les sonorités du Cap Vert, scattant et caressant les mélodies de sa voix sensuelle et énergisante. Passant aisément de la mélancolie à l’allégresse, particulièrement sur scène, Carmen Souza nous fait profiter de sa joie de vivre communicative."
Alex Dutilh, Open Jazz, France Musique Radio, FR

"Sa voix polymorphe lui permet une large pallette d'émotions et Carmen Souza passe avec allégresse de la plus douce des saudade à un scat endiablé digne des plus grandes chanteuse de jazz." FIP Radio, FR

TT-ON AIME BEAUCOUP "Cet oiseau des îles aux trilles revigorants cultive l’art de la nuance, qu’elle se ressource au feelin’ de son Cap-Vert natal ou qu’elle affûte son swing sensuel et pétillant sur des reprises de standards jazz. On craque pour ses sessions de scat ultrasoniques." Anne Berthod, Télérama, FR

"Carmen Souza, comme Cesaria Evora, est originaire du Cap vert. A la croisée des musiques traditionnelles et du jazz, elle chante en portugais ou en anglais, prenant parfois une voix de dessin animé, pour chanter des scats virevoltants de chanteuse de jazz, éblouissants de musicalité et de swing. Musique joyeuse, chansons voyageuses, voix caressante, énergie élégante… C’est une artiste superbe, à découvrir !" Declic Magazine, FR

"Unique en son genre, l’univers de Carmen Souza est le fruit d’une rencontre inouïe entre la tradition et le jazz. L’artiste puise au cœur de ses racines capverdiennes pour revisiter la musique et sublimer ses propres compositions. Qu’elle soit accompagnée d’une guitare ou d’un piano, sa voix reste inimitable, capable de se lover dans des tonalités improbables, le tout rythmé d’onomatopées colorées. Résultat : les notes chantent, les paroles virevoltent, et le public embarque pour un voyage des plus captivants vers d’autres ailleurs."
 Sonia Legendre, L'hebdo du vendredi, FR

"Avec un registre vocal assez incroyable, on fait ici un voyage entre joie et saudade"
La croix du Nord Newspaper, FR

 8/10 "In a live setting, Souza is robustly expressive, the childlike wonder of her voice extolling the boundaries, not just pushing them. And through it all, she never loses the notes of grace that make her one of the most expressive vocalists on the scene today"
 Jason Motz, VIVASCENE.COM, CA

 "...wondrous new DVD/CD set “Live at Lagny Jazz Festival” This stunning released is every bit as good as the strong new albums by Angelique Kidjo and Tutu Puoane reviewed last month...Souza’s own musicianship, on keyboards, guitar and percussion, is engaging too, but it is her singing in Cabo Verdian/ Portuguese Creole and her life affirming stage manner that steal the show. On the evidence of this set, she is a chanteuse/ entertainer of the first order and a seriously good jazz musician with a top-flight band.
If anyone had told this critic a month ago that amid such a fine clutch of new releases.by some of the continent’s top stars he would single out a release from a Lisbon born Cabo Verdian as the best, he would have eaten his hat to prove them wrong. But Carmen Souza really is that good and cannot be recommended too highly. “Live at Lagny Jazz Festival” by is a spellbinding, exceptional release and , on this evidence, Carmen Souza emerges as one of the most exciting talents in contemporary African jazz. “Africa,” ..."
AFRICANJAZZ.INFO by Ben Robertson

"Listening to Carmen's soulful vibrant rhythms in concert is like being engulfed in a sea of magnetic energy filled with softness, tranquility and thrill. An absolute joy to see on stage, your mind doesn't drift, your eyes don't deviate and most importantly, your smile doesn't fade when Carmen sings…Whether she is on the piano showering her audience with a captivating rendition of "My Favorite Things," introducing Cape Verde's most famous song "Sodade" with what has become her signature jazzed-up version, serving an irresistible dose of "Katchupada," or sharing the life story of her father's time at sea with "Song for My Father," you get the sense that Carmen is a person completely at peace with herself and the world..." SODADE, Nuria Chantre, USA

"This live recording and video showcases the stunning talent of one of the greatest jazz vocalists of our time…. impressive vocal modulations and flavorful African roots… one of the most talented and innovative vocalists in the present-day jazz and world music scene whose style and ability knows no bounds." WORLD MUSIC CENTRAL, USA

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KACHUPADA (2012-2013)

FFFF "Irresistible" Télérama, FR

5 /5 "Extraordinarily talented vocalist...Kachupada is certainly one of the rarest kinds of musical gems to have come to light in the year 2012."
Raul da Gama, World Music Report/Latin Jazz Network, USA

4/5 " With Verdade, her 2010 release, Carmen Souza introduced herself to the world as a kind of Cape Verdean Diana Krall. On Kachupada she is transformed into Cape Verdean Esperanza Spalding...Kachupada is a brave, extraordinarily original and at times challenging album. It is profoundly musical, deepens on every listen and deserves to make Souza a far more familiar name."
Alex Robinson, SONGLINES, UK

4 /5 " A la manière d’une Ella Fitzgerald du Cap-Vert, Carmen Souza chante la saudade avec sensualité et fraîcheur"
Les Inrockuptibles, FR

4 /5 "Elle est inclassable....C’est frais, épicé, profond, sympathique au possible. Ne la manquez pas quand elle passera par chez vous"
Michel Bedin, FR

4 /5 "irresistible musical creed...Kapuchada forms a kaleidoscope of a great originality. It is undoubtedly the work of a musical strong personality and one of best in world music this year." Loïc Picaud, MUSIC STORY, FR

4 /6 "Souzas jazz is totally dependent on local conditions, rhythms, tempos and her rather special voice." LARS LOVÉN, SvD, SE

8/10 "Melancholy, and drizzled with sparkling humor, sometimes sprinkled with depth and soulful timbre Souza shows here once again why she is, after the unforgotten Cesaria Evora, the undisputed number one in the Cape Verdean music scene, especially on the international stage." Michael Arens, SOUL TRAIN MAGAZINE, DE

"original-sounding album...Souza’s voice is striking, strong but flexible, with an attractive rasp and the odd sigh or cry emphasising the songs’ sentiments; overall, this is a highly unusual mix of Cape Verdean rhythms, jazz and soul that should see her audience widen way beyond the WOMAD Festival faithful..."LONDON JAZZ, UK

"imaginez une lointaine cousine d’e Eartha Kitt ou de Carmen McRae, chantant avec un swing et une maîtrise rythmique quasi insolents, dans sa langue maternelle, en portugais ou en anglais, des thèmes originaux inspirés du folklore de son île ou des standards (le Donna Lee de Miles Davis ou encore le My favorite things diffusé hier) et vous aurez une idée du programme." Stanley Pean, Radio Canada, CA

“Sur l'album Kachupada, le feeling de son Cap-Vert natal est bien là, notamment dans des reprises de vieux standards du cru. Mais ses aériennes trilles aiguës et ses scats jazzy ultratoniques, très sensuels, aussi, évoquent davantage Ella Fitgerald ou Diana Krall."
Anne Berthod, Telerama, FR

"Carmen Souza enchante avec un album d'entrechats vocaux fantasques." Les Inrocks, FR

"Carmen Souza. "KACHUPADA", c'est le reflet de notre humanité, c'est-à-dire riche et belle de sa diversité. L'on ne peut qu'être emballé par cette précieuse pépite que nous avons entre les mains." tribune2lartiste.com, FR

"Carmen est devenue en quelques années une référence de la musique capverdienne. « Kachupa » fleure bon les sonorités et les épices de cet archipel, et nous envoûte de son univers musical inimitable. Ce sont ses sonorités capverdiennes que Carmen mêle efficacement avec du jazz le tout saupoudré de sa voix cares- sante et légèrement espiègle, qui réinterprète des standards américains et capverdiens. Cet opus est plein de joie et de légèreté." Kadha Cissoko - Nouvelle Vague, FR

"Imprégnée de culture jazzy et des musiques de ses racines, Carmen Souza invente un rythme intime, où l’on retrouve les cadences de la morna, la délicatesse du fado, le latin jazz, les inspirations africaines comme le sodade portugais. Une voix d’alto au grain caressant, sans pathos, une énergie simplement élégante." V. Fara, La Terrasse,  FR

"Sublime Jazz voice from Cape Verde" FM Plus radio, FR

"Une pincée de Billie Holiday, un soupçon de Nina Simone, des phrasés à la Ella et un côté rebelle à la Mina Agossi...un style unique et original" JAZZ MAG, FR

 "Luxury voices in world music room...Virtuoso arrangements of the Cape Verde Islands..."
Albert Hosp, OE1@ORF.at

"Enchanting vocal talent...Her vocal style sounds like a mixture of highly virtuoso scat singing and sonorous beatboxing...Carmen Souza is an exceptional vocal talent that easily reconciles individuality, spontaneity and emotionality..." SZ Fürstenfeldbruck, DE

"Entre la sodade des mélodies capverdiennes et l'acrobatie d'un scat espiègle héritée d'Ella Fitzgearld, Carmen Souza est l'artisane d'une fusion jazz et world qui évite les lassants clichés éculés du genre...Impeccable quatrième album" QOBUZ, FR

"Carmen Souza gave an absolutely remarkable performance, skilfully leading traditional music to modern day world music" General-Anzeiger, DE

"The Cape-verdean singer transcends the traditional music of her country"
VIBRATIONS MAGAZINE, FR

"La voce di Carmen Souza è belleza, libertà, leggerezza...In alcuni brani le acrobazie vocali
della Souza si fanno vertiginose, sembrano improvvisazioni in puro jazz...È uma donna solare, una cantante di talento, una performer divertente."
Laura Putti, LA REPUBBLICA, ITALY

"Carmen Souza, con la sua voce intrigante, insaporisce il jazz di sonorità capoverdiane, My Favourite Things e Donna Lee acquistano aromi esotici."L'Unità, ITALY

"Carmen Souza London-based Carmen Souza's voice is quite elastic as it weaves around in elegant swirls between a flurry of irresistible scat topped off with a Nina Simone warble/vibrato. Her guitar and piano work is rather understated as it gives way to her voice, but is no less jaw-dropping." (FD) Rochester City Newspaper, USA

9/10"Smoothly sauntering through the world jazz market of musical manifestation, Carmen Souza has honed a unique approach by taking her Cape Verdean Creole roots and infuses them with infectious traditional African music, Brazillian rhythms, and a plethora of minute nuances that make this release shine and sparkle." Maximum Ink, USA

Top 10 Best concerts to see in NY "The Lisbon-born Cape Verdean singer sounds crazy like a Ross (Annie) or a Mitchell (Joni) in the best possible sense on her effervescent new Kachupada, a dazzling blend of highwire jazz improvisation, French accordionism, African roots music, and smart, sublime kookiness. It's a foaming polyrhythmic puddle of unceasing acoustic amazement from top to bottom and you probably shouldn't miss her."NY The Village Voice, USA

7/10"the uniqueness of Souza's vocals leaves the biggest impression. Mixed rather dry, relying very little on effects, harmonies or accompanied vocals, Souza's almost vaudeville-like inflections sit atop the other instruments like an intricate guitar solo."
Michael J. Warren, Exclaim, Canada

"As eclectic as the musical portion sounds, Souza possesses an otherworldly voice that when it grounds itself becomes deliciously earthy.  The arrangements by Souza and her producer Theo Pas’cal surprise, tease, and tickle our ears."
Patricia Herlevi, The Whole Music Experience, USA

"Carmen Souza and Theo Pas’cal team up again on this record and the results are sensational.
Souza’s voice is fun and gritty at the same time. Blessed with a terrific low and high register, Souza teases listeners with her playful voice, jumping octaves with ease. One of her finest characteristics is her ability to add texture to anything she sings....Souza manages to captivate with her passionate and unpredictable vocal melodies."
Splinters & Candy Radio show, WVKR.org, USA

"It has enough on the ball that we'd be remiss in not crowning her the new queen of Cape Verdian music. While Evora could find the beauty in pain, Souza looks for sunshine. Mixing her indigenous sounds with world jazz, hot club and a dab of coconut water, this record is sure to sound like summer all year long."
Midwest Record, USA

"Souza’s voice floats and darts about the melodies in a way that’s charmingly beguiling. She can scat or do anything and it simply sounds like the most gorgeous thing you’ll hear in your life." Joy of Violent movement, USA

"Most striking of all is Souza’s voice itself. Alternately chirpy and grave, it’s an exceptional tool that she wields with an instrumentalist’s sensibility — she’s also a guitar and piano player — executing nimble turns and swoops with grace and acrobatic control.
For over a decade, Souza has forged her own idiosyncratic hybrid of jazz and Cape Verdean styles such as morna, coladeira, and batuque — themselves reflections of the archipelago’s exceptionally mixed European and African past." Boston Globe, USA

"Carmen Souza is the Cape Verdean Norah Jones. (Get with it, Beeb!) With four albums to her credit, Lisbon-born and London-based Souza is fast-becoming a stellar recording artist, an in-demand live performer, a pinnacle of the international music scene and a class act brimming with distinct talent...Souza encompasses a talent that belies geography, linguistics, gender, and ethnomusicology. Or as Village Voice scribe Richard Gehr says: Souza’s live performance is “a foaming polyrhythmic puddle of unceasing acoustic amazement.” A gifted pianist and guitarist, Souza is at her commanding best when she opens her mouth to sing, unleashing a soul of immense beauty and power...Souza is no mere follower of Cape Verdean legend Cesária Évora, the Queen of Morna, but a spiritual descendent who evokes Évora and furthers the jazz tradition from Ella Fitzgerald to Nikki Yanofsky." Jason Motz, vivoscene.com

"The mix of styles which have influenced Carmen is intriguing on its own, and means that one can never totally know what to expect - one minute she could be singing a mellow bossa, and the next singing "Donna Lee"...But what especially intrigues me about Carmen Souza is the way she uses her voice...Her technique is also impressive...She can move around as nimbly as a great instrumentalist." Josh Grossman, torontojazz.com

"Carmen Souza’s musical character really stands out. While many female jazz vocalists are recording standards and new material with smooth jazzy arrangements, Carmen’s style is much creative and attractive...Kachupada is a splendid world music-rooted jazz album by one of the most remarkable performers in the current jazz scene."
WORLD MUSIC CENTRAL, USA

Vancouver Jazz Festival Live review" She’s a marvel. So much so that we predict one day music writers and fans will be referring to the achievements of new generations of vocal jazz prodigies as “Souzean”. "VIVASCENE.COM, CANADA

Vancouver Jazz Festival live review" Earlier Saturday, another singer injected summer sunshine into the twilight-lit Performance Works. Portugal-born Carmen Souza made the room feel like Cape Verde...Her voice shouted and purred, reaching down to pluck the low notes, then soaring to walk a high tightrope. And, something all performers should be conscious of, she appeared to thoroughly enjoy her time on stage.
Vancouver Sun, Canada
 
Ottawa Jazz Festival live review"Hearing Souza’s voice live was a real pleasure as her unique vocals ranging from soprano to alto demonstrate an impressive flexibility that switches back and forth between half-scat and half glissando. A true class act, Carmen Souza brought her African-Portuguese diaspora heritage to Ottawa and made the sun shine a little brighter around the OLG Stage."
Eventful Capital, Canada

Toronto Jazz Festival Live review: "Souza is an accomplished musician and singer who brings a jazz sensibility to all she does. Her big range, solid pitch and vocal sure-footedness count her among the finest singers anywhere, but she wasn’t all about vocal gymnastics. In fact, some of the most satisfying moments for me as a listener came when her drummer, switched from kit to cajon (a box drum played with the hands) the bass player (her long-time collaborator Theo Pascal) picked up the double bass and Souza sat down at the piano. Then we experienced the rich warmth of her voice and soul as she told us stories from her home." Cathy Riches, Toronto Jazz Fest, USA

Rochester Jazz Festival Live review: "Authentic music. It’s what jazz is. It’s this connection these musicians make when they are so good at their craft that they are released from reality and invite us to come along. It’s what happens when you listen to jazz musicians like Bob James, David Sanborn, Steve Gadd, and Carmen Souza. It was a truly enjoyable night of jazz."
Paloma Capanna, Rochester City Newspaper, USA

Rochester Jazz Festival live review: "Souza was a delight. She sings in a distinctive style that worked up and down the scale from gutteral lows to falsetto highs (sometimes all in the same phrase). She had an easy banter with the audience, who was just eating her up.” Greg Bell, Jazzrochester.com, USA

Saratoga Jazz Festival live review; "...sunny sway and sublime scatting of Cape Verde vocalist Carmen Souza…” Greg Haymes, Times Union, USA

Montreal Jazz Festival live mention: " ...fantastic singer-guitarist from Cape Verde named Carmen Souza who channeled her inner Billie Holiday, as if Billie were from Africa, then showed off her love of jazz in general, African music specifically and funk as well, doing a cool, funky version of Charlie Parker’s “Donna Lee.”
Russ Davie, Jazz times Magazine, USA

 Montreal Jazz Festival live review:"Singing in Creole, English and Portuguese, Cape Verdean vocalist Carmen Souza shared her unique mélange of jazz and traditional rhythms." 
Sharonne Cohen, Jazztimes Magazine, USA

"Carmen Souza chante avec cette légère exubérance sensuelle qui donne à chacune de ses interprétations des airs de liberté. Elle semble souvent jouer comme dans une pièce de théâtre chantée, ou à tout le moins avec la spontanéité de celle qui se retrouve devant les siens. Il s’en dégage parfois une sorte de scat enfantin qui confère étrangement beaucoup de contemporanéité, pendant que la musique, si entraînante soit-elle, se déglingue, se déformate, volontairement. Le swing est efficace et les rythmes, souvent sautillants, en partie en provenance du Cap-Vert natal de ses parents, mais parfois très jazz. Elle en reprend à sa façon quelques classiques, dont Donna Lee et My Favorite Things. Sinon, c’est parfois minimaliste, avec des percussions rapides, ou haletant en dessous d’une lente mélodie." Le Devoir, CA

"Tot seguit, al teatre de L'Atlàntida, la cantant portuguesa originària de Cap Verd Carmen Souza va irrompre com una gran força de la natura, descalça com Cesária Évora –de la qual va cantar Sodade– i acompanyada per tres músics notables, en un ampli ventall de registres, des de la clàssica My favorite things fins a exuberants còctels rítmics. Gran veu." Live review@Mercat de Musica viva de vic_Xavier Castillón, El Punt Avui, ES
“Tot i així, mentre hi érem vam tenir temps suficient per a adonar-nos de que estàvem davant de la finezza feta persona. Cantant portuguesa amb orígens a l’arxipèlag de Cap Verd, enriqueix la melancolia lusitana amb ritmes tribals africans. El resultat, previsible per raons d’història de la música afroamericana, és un pop ètnic perfumat d’aires caribenys que captiven i desarmen. Un altre animal escènic a tenir en compte."

Live review@Mercat de Musica viva de vic_
Imma Casanelas, Jazzdeprima, ES

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CARMEN SOUZA DUO feat Theo Pas'cal
"London Acoustic set" (2011/2012):

4 STARS “Sensitive and intimate, but also very positive and overwhelming, this way of singing is an independent creative path. Sometimes in hard-driving, other times sweating in low heat, who doesn’t know her goes from surprise to ecstasy, ‘Sodade’ brushes dangerously the outrage of leaving other titles without reference.”
A.L.N._JORNAL EXPRESSO_PT

4 STARS - JAZZISM - NL

"a singer/songwriter that has blossomed into a confident and sparkling performer, ‘finding’ her voice and glowing in its magnificent powers...In this CD, Carmen glides effortlessly across a range of languages and octaves, proving without a doubt that she is indeed a woman of the world!"  DJ RITU_SOAS Radio_UK

"‎Highly consistent, London Acoustic Set is far more than merely compelling - it is utterly mesmerising and bewitching. You will find it very hard not to play this exquisite album over and over. It is absolutely gorgeous! Its soulful charm and beauty are just irresistible. Souza and Pas'cal are an invaluable addition to the British scene, going by this album."RAINLORE'S WORLD OF MUSIC_UK

“…Has an unstoppable tone that mixes a Cape Verdean “accent” with other sounds and chords from World Music. With Theo Pas’cal-“mentor, friend, producer and fellow traveler”-has been building a unique style…after the deceased Orlando Pantera, she is the musical expression of modernity in the Cape Verdean roots.
It will go far, is already on the way.”A.L.N_ JORNAL EXPRESSO_PT

“Carmen Souza is difficult to categorize, but easy to like….in recent years she created her own sound: Cape Verdean roots, but riddled with various inflections of jazz and African music.”
João Bonifácio_JORNAL PUBLICO_PT

“Afro-cuban music, jazz, morna and references born of decades of rhythmic fusions are swallowed, distended and recycled in the development of an ecstatic authorial profile. Carmen and Theo present  themselves in a raw, undisturbed, and unbreakable demonstration that regardless of the radicalism of their proposal, the lush inner beauty and exuberant objectivity is never compromised!”MBARI_PT

“Fascinating…the pieces are just skin and bones, stripped back to it’s essence”FOLKER_DE

“Stunning Album…”Ton Maas_CONCERTZENDER_NL

“Work of incredible intensity…wonderful collection of original compositions and covers…A feast for the senses!”
MELODIVA_DE

“Songs with a very special energy and power, with Carmen Souza voice shining in all colours...an album which is not only a anniversary album but an album of Folk music and beautiful melodies, as well as a compilation of their music"
DIGITALE JAZZ-ZEITUNG_DE

 “The duo electrifies the soundwaves…favorite for world jazz, Cape Verde, Portuguese, and improvisational music fans."
INSIDE WORLD MUSIC_UK
"A Live recording that demonstrates why Cape Verdean Carmen Souza has earned a reputation as one of the most exciting talents emerging in the field of "World Music" in recent years…Improvisations of high artistic value are created around the personal voice of the singer, and confirm that Carmen Souza does not have to decide whether her music is jazz or "world music". Her style is just as unique as convincing and her Cape Verdean roots as evident as her desire to create a new language under the label of "world jazz" ZONA DE COMPRAS_SP

Rigas Ritmi Festival review: "Singer/songwriter/guitarist Carmen Souza also stirred up a distinctive savory mixture of musical flavors. The other members of her band were bassist Theo Pascal, pianist Jonathan Idiagbonya and drummer Davide Giovannini. Souza, born in Portugal to parents from Cape Verde, sang her own songs in a voice that purred, snarled, keened and glided over wide intervals. Her sensual rhythms came from Cape Verdean forms like the batuke and the morna. Your mind did not know these rhythms but your body did. It was impossible not to move to “Africa.” Souza got a Congress Hall full of Latvians twitching in their seats and singing in Creole." Jazztimes magazine, Thomas Conrad

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 PROTEGID PRESS REVIEWS (2010):

NOMINATED FOR THE GERMAN RECORDS CRITIC’S AWARD (2010)
WORLD MUSIC CHARTS EUROPE –WMCE (APRIL 10)
WORLD MUSIC CHARTS EUROPE – WMCE (AUGUST 10)
GRAMMIES PRE-NOMINATION FOR BEST CONTEMPORARY WORLD MUSIC ALBUM (2010)

"Carmen Souza's vivacious "Protegid" opens a window to another world entirely, cranking up the tempo, slicing up the syncopated rhythm to resemble Thelonious Monk's "Evidence" and allowing her to power her voice with the assured intuition and inventiveness of a jazz singer." SONG OF THE DAY - NPR - USA

"Singing in a colourful, eclectic Portuguese-based Creole, Souza illuminates, stretches, and snaps back the elastic connections between Latin, African and Arabic music, American jazz and the music of Cape Verde. Souza conclusively proves that the "world music" evolution/revolution has transformed modern vocal as well as instrumental music." ALL ABOUT JAZZ-USA

"The whole disc is a landmark that will prompt you to embrace and at the same time rethink everything you know and love about the sounds of Cape Verde." WORLD MUSIC CENTRAL-USA

4 STARS "Sometimes this Cape Verdean singer's sound is pure Billie Holiday, sometimes she gives the impression of Eartha Kitt on speed, sometimes her vocal pyrotechnics evoke a young Cleo Laine... THE SCOTSMAN-UK

4 STARS "Suprising is her version of Horace's Silvers 'Song for my father' Piano player Idiabonya lets the influence of Chucho Valdes play here and together with Carmen and bass player Theo Pas'cal they create a gripping version of Cape Verdian Afro Jazz fusion." JAZZ MAGAZINE-NL

4 STARS "With songs that travel freely between Cape Verde, jazz and other worlds, Carmen Souza is the most original voices of the new Cape Verdean music...Incredible original voice...surprising version of "Sodade"... chilling "Mara Marga" TIME OUT LISBON-PT

4 STARS "It's tempting to compare any female Cape Verdean singer to the godmother of the island's indigenous morna music, Cesaria Evora, but that would be unfair to a vocalist as gifted, and as singular, as Carmen Souza...Souza's voice is a remarkably lithe instrument, sensual, percussive, soulful, and capable of exploring multiple moods within a given line of a given track." ALL MUSIC GUIDE-USA4STARS

"Carmen surprises us with an excellent record that has African flavor-based morna, though also invest in the globalization of her music." WORLD MUSIC MAGAZINE-SP

5 STARS “...genuine music-making...” CULTURE CAPITAL-UK
4 STARS- PARIS MOVE&BLUES MAGAZINE-FR
4 STARS- JAZZTHETIK-DE
4 STARS- ATHENS VOICE-GR

"The poetic voice is as original as the musical one...The lyrics this Cape Verdean singer has written have a vivid, passionate energy;Backed with rippling accompaniments from a band blending Afro-Latin and contemporary jazz effects, she beats up a very unusual storm. Just one song – "Sodade" – plugs her into the grand Cape Verdean tradition, but shows how far she has moved from its original exponent, Cesaria Evora." THE INDEPENDENT-UK

"Carmen Souza may share a Creole tongue with her Cape Verdean-rooted contemporaries, but that's where the comparisons end. Her voice is singular, mercurial and slightly androgynous. It has a kind of dawn-to-dusk range that approximates several performers simultaneously, bearing more relation to Billie Holiday or even Tom Zé than to Mayra Andrade or Sara Tavares." SONGLINES-UK

"This album is an excellent brain-food." JAZZTHING-DE

"Some adventurous and lively Cape Verdean action - Omar Sosa lends a hand but Carmen Souza can stand upon her own music feet, no question." WORLD MUSIC CHARTS EUROPE

"Protegid, the new album, is definitely a jazz album, and also definitely a Cape Verdean album...Carmen’s music reminds me of music back in the seventies, simultaneously solid and experimental, both inspiration and entertaining, elegantly serious and dancingly enjoyable..." BREATH OF LIFE-USA

"Imagine if Billie Holiday sang in Creole and revisited her African roots then you would be half way to describing the voice of Cape Verdean Carmen Souza. The globetrotting musician possesses one of the most out-of-this-world voices to come along in a long time.On her album Protegid Carmen gives her vocals a tour of the African Diaspora, leaping back and forth between Cape Verdean music and American jazz. She sings in half-scat and half glissando uttering phrases in alto and then trilling in the soprano with her heavy vibrato voice fluttering like nervous birds. I recall Zap Mama more than I do Cesaria Evora, the Queen of Cape Verdean song." by Patricia Herlevi at WHOLE MUSIC EXP.-USA

"With the purr of the late Eartha Kitt, Carmen Souza pours the heart into her music, with the same effect...sensitive , intimate and vivaciuos all the things found in Souza's music."BOSTON POST-GAZETTE- USA

"Sophisticated and elegant, with a voice to match, Souza puts American jazz to the music of the Cape Verde Islands."THE STAR-CA

MARK OF EXCELLENCE "Souza croons and purrs her way through stunning track after stunning track. Driving hard on the lively "Tentê Midj," only to evoke aching despair on "Sodade," Souza's voice is the embodiment of emotion."EXCLAIM-CA

"Her voice, intuitive and powerful as the best jazz singers, is elegant even when she hits the limits of her personal proposal. [Carmen Souza is] one of those artists that with each new album makes an extensive exercise of her independence."SONS DE LA MEDITERRANIA MAGAZINE-SP

“espectacular, flexible y brillante voz” RITMOS DEL MUNDO-SP

“This woman should go, by her own right, to the podium of the great female voices from Africa”
B!RITMOS-SP

"Carmen Souza is certainly one of the most interesting voices of the new generation of so-called World Music...World Music with Class" MESCALINA- IT

"Carmen Souza, c'est une pincée de Billie Holiday, un soupçon de Nina Simone et un côté rebelle à la Mina Agossi. Énergisante!" JAZZFRISON-FR

“Carmen souza : prends garde à toi, Cesaria
Voici une découverte renversante ! Évidemment, on est tenté de citer Sara Tavares et Maria João, ses deux consœurs lisbonnaises, pour délimiter le terrain de jeu de Carmen Souza, entre jazz et musiques du monde. Mais cette artiste surprenante s’est forgé un langage éclaté qui lui est propre et elle n’accepte visiblement aucun carcan.
Orchestrations organiques, syncopes à gogo, acrobaties vocales, rythmiques contagieuses, cette musique libre s’ouvre sur l’avenir. Carmen écrit elle-même les textes créoles, inventifs, syncopés, et Theo Pascal, son bassiste, prend en charge la création musicale. Ils saluent au passage deux légendes dont les îles du Cap- Vert sont très fières : Horace Silver, avec « Song for My Father », et Cesaria Evora, avec une version de « Sodade » qui va vous faire effacer l’original de votre iPod. Étonnant.” L'ACTUALITE-CA

"Lisbon-born singer-songwriter Carmen Souza was raised in the Cape Verdean tradition and sings in Creole; on her latest (excellent) album, Protegid, she wraps her husky pipes around deliciously slinky, jazzy numbers and sprightly Afro beats with equal ease."TIME OUT NEW YORK-USA

"Cape Verde meets Afro-Latin meets contemporary jazz. That spicy mix is filtered through a singular voice and style that some have compared to Billie Holiday, others to Nina Simone. I hope she sings Horace Silver's "Song for My Father." NPR, USA

"Carmen Souza ignites amazing musical fireworks with her voice."
Hessischer Rundfunk, DE

"Carmen Souza is one of those amazing talents that takes you by surprise - in a number of ways.  Born in Portugal to Cape Verdeans, she is exquisite.  When she speaks and sings, you can hear the echos of her Creole roots.  The bravery of her performances harkens back to a time that some of us don't remember - but others do - she has been compared to those who have inspired her: Ella, Nina, Billie.  Then, she draws from her strong Gospel background.  Mix the spiritual "mission" that she feels, combine that with traditional Cape Verde and contemporary Jazz - and a love for Horace Silver - well, you might just have The Queen of Hybrid on your hands!"TRISH HENNESSY, HYBRID JAZZ , USA

"Carmen Souza, cantante y compositora portuguesa de ascendencia caboverdiana. Su voz es impresionante, se mueve entre la potencia cercana al grito desgarrador y la suavidad más intimista. Su música está basada en las melodías de las islas que impregnaron su cultura. Su estilo podría calificarse como "etnojazz" al ser obvias las influencias africanas en su estilo y estructurarlo al máximo nivel armónico del jazz más avanzado." ArturoDiazF

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VERDADE PRESS REVIEWS(2008/2009):

5 STARS “Carmen Souza is a promise!"JAZZ MAGAZINE, NL

4 STARS “...Verdade (Truth) looks to deserve its name in each word and each note, mixing traditional rhythms of the archipelago with multiple influences, mainly from Jazz.” EXPRESSO, PT

4 STARS “Superb second album...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.” ROCK N REEL MAGAZINE, UK

"Carmen Souza’s rich voice soothes as much as it swings.”TIME OUT CHICAGO, USA

“For decades, the music of Cape Verde was identified with a single talent, the penetrating vocalist Cesária Évora. But in recent years, this group of islands off the west coast of Senegal in Africa has begun exporting more high-quality artists...Now add 27-year-old Carmen Souza — born in Lisbon to Cape Verdean parents — to the list...Souza has a charismatic, playful streak, earthier and less arty but otherwise not unlike Marie Daulne of Zap Mama.” MINNPOST, USA

“...Incredible authenticity...” INSIDE WORLD MUSIC, USA

"Despite being less known than Mayra Andrade, Lura and Sara Tavares, a Cape Verdean born in Lisbon (and is so natural to say this) Carmen Souza deserves, in its own right, to integrate the leading group of the best new singers from Cape Verde." António Pires, TIME OUT LISBON, PT

“Carmen Souza’s music is not of the Lura or Sara Tavares variety really; rather, it’s an artful blend of traditional Cape Verdean rhythms with contemporary jazz and an intimate acoustic element.” CAIPIRINHA LOUNGE, PT

"...her (Carmen Souza) strength lies mainly in her incredible possessed, swinging, colourful voice. What a talent!" VRIJE GELUIDEN, NL

“...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...”SONGLINES, UK

"Cultured singer who puts her own jazz spin on the music of her ancestral home, Cape Verde."THE TIMES, UK

“...distinctive fusion of classic, lilting Cape Verdean musical forms and Jazz."THE INDEPENDENT, UK

"Smouldering Cape Verdean afrobeat-tinged folk-jazz." Critic’s choice/Recomended, TIME OUT LONDON,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."ÁFRICA TODAY MAGAZINE, PT

“...voice of diva of jazz - Full, deep, adaptable to any note, Low or high” A SEMANA, CAPE VERDE

OTHER CONCERT REVIEWS:

5 STARS “Cape Verdean songstress Carmen Souza has it all: excellent repertoire, a nimble and versatile voice that glides effortlessly through a huge range of registers and a totally relaxed stage presence. Moreover, she swings like hell...”BIMHUIS Live Review-De Volkskrant, NL

“Last weekend Carmen Souza put on a spellbinding performance ... gliding between breathy ballads, sexy funana rhythms from her ancestral Cape Verde, and a beautiful cover of Horace Silver’s "Song From My Father."CEDAR CENTER Live Review, Minnpost, Minneapolis, USA

Three Countries, Four Jazz Festivals by Laura Byrne Paquet for DREAMSCAPES MAGAZINE, CA “...I had similar luck recently on the world Music front, when I settled under the tent one afternoon to hear Afro-beat Jazz singer Carmen Souza. Now, Ottawa is not the sort of place where people spontaneously dance in public. (I live there, so I feel I Have the right to give my adopted hometown a gentle jibe.) So the fact that Souza managed to get many people On their feet in broad daylight is nothing short of a miraculous and she did it all with her voice, personality and Sheer force of will. It was one of the most memorable shows I’ve experienced at any Jazz Festival.”

“Carmen Souza, ou le Jazz Folk cap-verdien Carmen Souza est une jeune artiste née au Portugal et ayant grandi au Portugal tout en préservant ses racines cap-verdiennes. Carmen est une artiste complete, interprete s’exprimant en portugais, pianiste et guitariste à la fois. Elle était accompagnée sur scène par son bassiste acoustique, batteur jazzy et pianiste. L’artiste a envouté l’assistance de rythmes oscillant entre jazz, folk et sons africains, tantôt teintés de rythmes joyeux funana et tantôt de rythmes mélancoliques morna. Une fusion exquise de musique cap-verdienne et d’influences contemporaines. Drapée dans une chatoyante robe en soie, c’est tout en sensualité que Carmen Souza a accompagné le public dans son univers très jazzy, bercé par une voix chaude et maitrisée à la perfection, parfois rauque et puissante et parfois fluette et susurrée. L’aisance du passage des tessitures aigues à graves était le moins déconcertante. Le public présent a vite integer sa place dans cette ambiance intimiste où Carmen Souza, à portée de main, n’a pas hésité et convié l’assistance à chanter en choeur. Le public n’a d’ailleurs pas été insensible au charme certain de Carmen Souza, dont la présense et la sensualité ont occupé tout l’espace sur scène. II est surprenant que cette artiste au talent et à la maturité si palpable ne soit pas déjà propulsée au rang dês stars de ce monde, à l’image de Cesaria Evora, dont Carmen a fait une reprise jazzy époustouflante Sodade, encore plus abouti et plus poignante que la version originale. Si vous avez raté ce concert mémorable, rende-vous sur le site de l'artiste, afin de découvrir son univers musical et d'écouter quelques morceaux choisis.” Concert review (Alger, 29 April, 2008) by B.B at Lekra3.com

“Elle chante, puis elle parle. Sa voix enraillée se tord vers les aigus puis se radoucit vers des sons plus graves. Elle s’accompagne au piano, puis à la guitare. Lorsqu’elle n’a plus d’instrument, elle danse, souris et vit son concert avec grâce et volupté. Plus qu’une jolie musicienne en boubou bleu, Carmen Souza est une magicienne qui peut transcender un public à elle seule...A l’arrivée de son titre Afri Ka, le public se rut sur la piste de danse. Quelle ambiance ! Entre ceux qui dansent, ceux qui tapent des mains et ceux qui reprennent en cœur le refrain, on se serait presque cru en vacances au Cap Vert. Carmen Souza enchante et impressionne : pendant que le public reprend les paroles en cœur, elle interprète un duel d’arpège à la guitare avec Theo Pas’cal. Puis place à la mélancolie très axée jazzy avec son titre Sodad. Pour finir, elle interprète de nouveau Afri Ka. Elle s’adresse au public: « If you remember the words, come on »! Le public chante. Elle reprend : « Stand up people ! Come on » ! Le public se lève. Elle a manifestement des pouvoirs divins !." LES ZINDERUCTIBLES, FR

Live Review, Concert au Satellit Café (FR)
by Dominique Boulay , Paris Move
"L’occasion, pour nous, de vous parler du Café, du lieu, tout d’abord, qui est très accueillant, chaleureux et où l’on apprécie s’installer confortablement pour écouter des musiques qui voyagent et qui viennent de partout, en buvant des verres aux saveurs venues d’ailleurs. Les rythmes issus de tous les coins du monde sont chose normale puisque le lieu s’autoproclame judicieusement ‘Ambassadeur parisien des musiques du monde’.
C’est dans le cadre très convivial du 9ème Festival des Femmes que le lieu reçoit donc, ce soir, la jeune et jolie Carmen Souza. Née au Portugal en 1981, la talentueuse et ravissante artiste est tout naturellement imprégnée des rythmes et des musiques venues de l’ile d’où ses parents sont issus, le Cap Vert, et du continent africain tout proche.
Il ne lui faudra que deux sets pour hypnotiser, captiver, emballer, ensorceler et posséder le public. Compositeur, auteur, guitariste et pianiste, Carmen Souza possède également une voix que l’on peut qualifier d’instrument supplémentaire tant la tessiture de celle-ci lui permet de changer de hauteur et d’amplitude au gré de son inspiration et de son écriture musicale. Tantôt dans les aigus, tantôt dans les graves, sa voix nous captive et sait se fondre dans les sonorités jouées par son combo. Dado Pasqualini, à la basse et à la double basse acoustique, Victor Zamora aux percussions et à la batterie ainsi que Tiago Santos au piano nous offrent, en effet, un merveilleux cocktail sonore dans lequel on distinguera rythmes joyeux, ‘funana’, et mélodies plus mélancoliques, ‘morna’. Un jazz-folk d’inspiration africaine pour ce qui est des lignes musicales, ou un folk jazzy en ce qui concerne certaines autres compositions et qui nous font presque penser au Brésil.
Dans un souci de communication permanente avec son public, Carmen Souza nous explique la genèse des morceaux et des chansons, cherchant à toujours faire participer le public en lui faisant reprendre le refrain de certaines chansons.
Elle a enregistré trois albums à ce jour : ‘Ess ênha Cabo Verde’ en 2005, ‘Verdade’ en 2008 et le tout dernier, ‘Protegid’, cette année
Pour ceux qui ne connaissait que Cesaria Evora comme chanteuse venant de cette île lointaine, voilà l’occasion de réparer cette carence et, croyez-moi, vous serez surpris par l’immense talent de cette artiste dont on n’a pas fini d’entendre parler. Sa formidable reprise de ‘Sodade’ est fut une preuve supplémentaire et je ne peux que vous recommander d’aller écouter son dernier opus, superbe, tout simplement!"

"Associated with names like Billie Holliday, Ella Fritzgerald and Nina Simone, Carmen Souza seems to know right where she wants to go, drinking in their influences while at the same time occupying her own space. And her chameleon-like voice allows her to do this.
In a single song, she delves into the warm and melodic registers of the great jazz divas, only to flee into more contemporary terrain immediately thereafter...
The singer cloaks Cape Verdean music in new garb, this distancing herself from what is currently being done by other female Cape Verdean singers.
The visibility she has garnered internationally, along with the quality and coherence demonstrated in her first three albums, seems to have to do with this – with her finding of another path for the evolution and renovation of morna or funaná, giving them a new breadth and life.
After more than an hour of music came the standing ovation, the obligatory encore and the continuation of the voyage into the aromas of Cape Verde, surrounded by a whirlwind of fusions."A Semana, Cape Verde

 "Carmen Souza, The Jazz Krioula
Carmen Souza lived up to her reputation and won the audience in what was the first time on stage in the land of her origins....was a memorable night in the National Assembly..." SAPO.CV, Cape Verde

Carmen Souza and her band gave a valiant performance by making a musical journey to the different styles..."
"Singer/songwriter/guitarist Carmen Souza also stirred up a distinctive savory mixture of musical flavors. ..Souza, born in Portugal to parents from Cape Verde, sang her own songs in a voice that purred, snarled, keened and glided over wide intervals. Her sensual rhythms came from Cape Verdean forms like the batuke and the morna. Your mind did not know these rhythms but your body did. It was impossible not to move to “Africa.” Souza got a Congress Hall full of Latvians twitching in their seats and singing in Creole." RIGAS RITMI 2011 Live Review-Thomas Conrad, JAZZ TIMES, USA

"Carmen Souza captured the audience with the first gig in Finland...Souza vocal expression is something absolutely original...fascinating!" Pirkko Kotirinta-HELSINGIN SANOMAT-FL


"unforgettable night... the performance received a standing ovation" - BURSA HABERLER-TR

"The audience was enchanted by the musical richness of Carmen Souza and her vocal resources, receiving a stand up ovation with right to an encore" - DALWTON MOURA (MUSIC CRITIC)-BR


Carmen Souza von den Kapverden erwies sich als neuer Stern am Gesangshimmel.“
LEVERKUSENER JAZZTAGE, MARLER ZEITUNG-DE
Was für eine Frau! Von einer vitalen Begeisterung für ihre Musik und von einer unaufgeregten, strahlen- den Natürlichkeit, mit der sie das Sontheimer Publikum nach spätestens zwanzig Minuten um den Finger gewickelt hatte. (…) Das war einer dieser Abende, eines dieser Konzerte, zu denen man nicht viel sagen muss. Im Prinzip genügt ein Wort: großartig. Ein Abend, an dem gar alles gepasst hat.
MINDELHEIMER ZEITUNG-DE
Carmen Souzas extrem wandlungsfähige Gesangsstimme ist neben ihrem eleganten Erscheinungsbild wohl das beste Aushängeschild der hochtalentierten Künstlerin. Sie kann sehr tief und voluminös singen , aber auch kindlich zart und zerbrechlich leise . Hier bemerkt man als aufmerksamer Zuhörer sehr schnell, dass zu ihren musikalischen Vorbildern auf jeden Fall Ella Fitzgerald gehören muss, denn neben dem jugendlichen Charme ihrer Stimme ist besonders ihr jazziger Scatgesang erwähnenswert, mit dem sie wie ein Jazz-Instrumentalist über stolze drei Oktaven improvisieren kann.
HERSFELDER ZEITUNG-DE

„Vielfalt liegt Carmen Souza im Blut. So bekommen die Zuschauer im ausverkauften Jazzclub Hannover eine zweistündige Klangreise rund um die Welt geboten.“ WESERZEITUNG HAMELN-DE

Carmen Souza gehört zu einer neuen Musiker-Generation, die sich auf die Tradition besinnt und zugleich mit modernem Jazz liebäugelt. Sie ist nicht nur eine phantastische Sängerin, sondern auch eine ausge- zeichnete Pianistin und Gitarristin.“
NÜRNBERGER NACHRICHTEN-DE

"De son concert, on repart dans la nuit, comme rasséréné, comme si au fond les difficultés de l’existence s’effaçaient devant la beauté, l’élégance, la chaleur et la tendresse de cette voix paisible. Qu'elle s'accompagne à la guitare ou au piano, le charme opère, nous embarquant dans son imaginaire musical. Cela tient sans doute à la dimension spirituelle qui sous-tend sa musique et sa vie : “ Ma musique vient du cœur. Et de mes racines. Je chante l’amour sous toutes ses formes, l’amour au quotidien. “
COULEURS JAZZ MAGAZINE-FR
PROMOTERS REVIEWS:

" The Lift Global Music Club is now in its 13th year as an entirely voluntary collective and what keeps us going are experiences like Carmen's performance on Saturday. This must surely rank as one of the best in our long history. Every aspect was superb music that managed to challenge but always remain accessible, revitalising a jazz vocal tradition but with Cape Verde styling’s that took it to a new level. Carmen's vocals were amazingly engaging throughout with beautiful songs enhanced by her on stage charisma which endeared her immediately to the audience. As well as stunning original compositions we were treated to an inspired version of Horace Silver's Song For My Father. I am running out of superlatives but equally brilliant were the musicians in the band who were so tight and in sync with Carmen that at times it took your breath away.”
Rick Williams, Promoter, The Lift Global Music Club, UK

“We really loved having them. I was prepared to love Carmen, but what a fantastic band!”
Rob Simonds, Promoter, Cedar Cultural Center, USA

“The concert was absolutely fantastic. The audience, mostly unfamiliar with Carmen's work yet eager and receptive, were left speechless and swept off their feet... Aside from her magnificent voice and multifaceted talent as a musician and songwriter, on the stage she exhibits a great deal of warmth and genuineness. Her
impeccable English helps her communicate with her audiences at yet another level, as she shares some details about her personal experience and philosophy that inspire each song.”
Fernando Arenas, Promoter, University of Minnesota, USA

When I invited Carmen Souza to Lisbon Mistura Festival 2009 had obviously listened to her music in CD and on myspace and the refinement of her voice; the arrangements have earned me immediately. But I had no idea how little I knew until Carmen Souza went on stage. At that time I was amazed at the strength and sweetness of her voice, her stage presence, musical quality and elegance of the performance of the group, either in their original songs or versions of other songs. It was a magical moment that was extended off stage, like it happens with the big artists."
Carlos Martins, Musician and Artistic Director of Lisboa Mistura Festival, PT

"It was a real pleasure to have you in Rigas Ritmi Festival this summer, the audience was brought few meters above ground by your performance! Warm memories! Thank you!"
Rigas Ritmi Festival, LATVIA


"Speechless to define Carmen Souza Show" - JAZZ and BLUES FESTIVAL - BR

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