Gardénia Benrós

Published by GN on 01/25/202401/25/2024

Praia, Santiago, 1960s

Singer, songwriter

Gardénia Benrós brings together in her work the different musical influences received throughout a journey in which at the age of 16, she found herself in the USA singing in a group composed by young Cape Verdeans, the Tropical Power. From the age 3 to 13, she lived in Portugal, but her influences also come from the Brava Island where her grandmother, a contemporary of Eugénio Tavares, and her mother lived. The latter received notions of lyrical singing from capuchin priests on a mission on the island and recorded in duo with her daughter the song “Bejo de sodade”, by B.Léza. On her first album released in 1986, Gardénia records five songs by Eugénio Tavares, and will record again later, as well as other songwriters from Brava, such as João José Nunes and Rodrigo Peres.

Gardénia Benrós / Source: Facebook

In the 1990s, Gardénia released two volumes of vibrant funanas and koladeras rhapsodies: O melhor de Cabo Verde mix and Gardénia Mix II, which covers a wide range of songwriters and popular themes. In addition to these, there are four other albums in this decade. The one from 1999, bo kin cre, has all the songs written by Gardénia herself, who began (composing/writing??) after attending the Berklee College of Music in Boston. It wasn’t very common for women to appear as songwriters, even less so to pursue university studies in the musical field, aspects that combined to the fact that the singer created her own label, the Independent Talent Productions, make her a peculiar case in the panorama of Cape Verdean artists.

In 2011 was released the CD Flor cabo-verdiana. In 2014, reappears with Gardénia canta Silvestre Faria e amigos, in which she sings almost all of the songs, which is part of a tribute project to the Brava songwriter.

Gardénia on the cover of the Tropical Power LP (1983).

Gardénia appears as an actress and singer in the movie Serenata de amor (Spia Media Productions Inc., 2013), a 15-minute musical, which has an original script by Claire Andrade-Watkins, Benny S. Ambush, who directs the movie, and Gardénia herself.

Discography

Gardénia Benrós, LP, Polygram, USA l/d, 1986.
When love is gone/I need you, single, Polygram, USA
l/d, 1987.
Raizinho di sol, single, MBP, Lisbon, 1988.
O melhor de Cabo Verde mix, LP, Discossete, Lisbon 1990.
É sim!, CD, MBR, Brockton, 1990.
Gardénia Mix II, CD, MBR, Brockton, 1994.
Kryola d’encantar, CD, Polygram, USA l/d, 1995.
Simplesmente cabo-verdiana, CD, Independent Talent Productions, Boston, 1997.
Bo kin cre, CD, Independent Talent Productions, Boston, 1999.
Flor cabo-verdiana, CD, Independent Talent Productions, Boston, 2011.
Gardénia canta Silvestre Faria e amigos, CD, Brazuca Publishing, Brockton, 2014.