Margo Sylvia

Woburn, Massachusetts, USA, 1936 – San Diego, California, USA, 1991  Singer, songwriter  Margo Sylvia was the lead singer of The Tune Weavers, which in 1957 achieved huge success with their first single, which featured the song “Happy, Happy Birthday Baby”, which sold around 2 million copies over the years. The Read more…

Verda-Tones, The

Group, (?)  The Verda-Tones was a group formed in the Cape Verdean community in the USA. It was led by Toi Grace. The group appears on the album Sos Sabi: Cape Verdean Music from New England.   The group’s lineup on this recording is: Toi Grace (voice and maracas), Alfredo B. Read more…

Creole Sextet

Group (1960s) – [?]  Joli Gonsalves (voice), Al Lopes (guitar), J. Lombardi (violin), Young Boboi (saxophone), Chico Tass (?) and F. Ponte (maracas) were the members of this group formed in the USA and that appears in the collective album So Sabi: Cape Verdean Music from New England. In the Read more…

Michael ‘Tunes’ Antunes 

Michael Antunes  New Bedford, USA, 1940  Instrumentalist (saxophone), actor  The saxophonist Michael “Tunes” Antunes started his professional career in 1960 and is still active, having passed his 80th birthday.  He participated in the John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band, which was responsible for the soundtrack of the movie Eddie Read more…

Skyliners Big Band

Group, 1930  The Skyliners Big Band was formed in 1930, as a dance section of the Cape Verdean Ultramarine Band Club (which was not a lounge band but rather a band of street performances, in parades and commemorative events), according to A Salute to the Cape Verdean Musicians and Their Read more…

Phill Barboza

Félix Edmund Barboza  USA, 1914 – USA, 1993  Instrumentalist (trumpet)   Phill Barboza is one of the North American musicians of Cape Verdean origin whose artistic career falls within the world of jazz, but who still maintains a connection with the music of the land of the ascendants – his father Read more…

Jimmy Lomba

James Lomba   New Bedford, U.S.A, 1912 – New Bedford, U.S.A, 1999  Instrumentalist (saxophone)  Son of immigrants from Brava, Jimmy Lomba became interested in music early on, particularly jazz. With money earned working in a clothing factory, at the age of 19 he bought his first saxophone. He studied music with Read more…

Joe Livramento

Joseph Calasanes Livramento  New Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.A., 1920 – U.S.A., 2003  Instrumentalist (wind instruments), composer   Clarinetist, flautist, saxophonist, band leader and composer, Joe Livramento had a 66-year career as a music professional, which began when he was still a teenager, at 17, and continued until the end of his life. Read more…

George Azevedo

George C. Azevedo  Riverside, Rhode Island, U.S.A. – Riverside, Rhode Island, U.S.A., 2008  Instrumentalist (tenor saxophone)  George Azevedo began his career in the 1940s playing in jazz and blues bands in the region of Rhode Island and Massachusetts. He was part of many groups including Duke Oliver, Phill Edmond and Read more…

Frank Monteiro

Franciso Monteiro New Bedford, U.S.A, 1917 – New Bedford, U.S.A, 2010  Instrumentalist (wind instruments)   Frank “Chico” Monteiro, although not being a professional and without having recorded solo, was a very well-known musician among the Cape Verdean community in Massachusetts, having been a part of the Duke Oliver and Al Lopes Read more…