Tcheka (Manuel Lopes Andrade; born in Ribeira da Barca,

Santiago, Cape Verde Santiago (Portuguese for “ Saint James”) is the largest island of Cape Verde, its most important agricultural centre and home to half the nation's population. Part of the Sotavento Islands, it lies between the islands of Maio ( to the east) ...

, on July 20, 1973) is a

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

an singer, songwriter and guitarist, who is well known for his work in transposing the traditional genre

batuque Batuque may refer to: * Batuque (game), a game once played in Brazil * Batuque (music and dance), a music and dance genre from Cape Verde * Batuque (religion), an Afro-American religion in Southern Brazil * Batuque FC, a Cape Verdean football (socc ...

to the electro-acoustic guitar.

Biography

Tcheka grew up in a musical family. By age 14, Tcheka began playing with his famous violinist father, Nho Raul Andrade, at local festivals, weddings and baptisms. By the time Tcheka reached 15, he began developing his own style, incorporating the genre

with his guitar. As a young man, Tcheka left his rural home and went to live in the capital,

Praia Praia (, Portuguese language, Portuguese for "beach") is the capital and largest city of Cape Verde.

. He later became a cameraman for the national television, where he met journalist Júlio Rodrigues, with whom he wrote a number of songs, and performed informally in the bars of the Capeverdean capital. Tcheka expanded his musical horizons, which brought him to maturity as an artist and led to the release of his first CD in 2003 entitled ''Argui'', by the record label Lusafrica. He performed in several European countries and he even recorded a live concert DVD in 2004. In 2005, Tcheka recorded his second album entitled ''Nu Monda'', which was met with very good reviews and won him the Radio France International Music of the World Awards for Artist of the Year. Tcheka was a featured artist at the World Music Expo (WOMEX) in Seville, Spain. In 2015 he started a cooperation with South African guitarist Derek Gripper that they brought to Busara Festival (Zanzibar), HIFA (Zimbabwe) and Cape Town World Music Festival (South Africa). A collaboration with portuguese star pianist Mario Langhina resulted in a series of concerts and a recording yet to be released. He released his fifth album 'Boka Kafé' in 2017 and toured several countries (US, Spain, Germany, Serbia, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Hungary, Portugal, France, Luxembourg) with concerts at important locations such as Jazz in Marciac, Lincoln Center NY, Chicago World Music Festival among others.

Discography

Studio albums

* Argui (2003) * Nu Monda (2005) * Lonji (2007) * Dor De Mar (2011) * Boka Kafé (2017)

References

External links

* Official homepag

Africa's premiere entertainment portal

African Music Guide

Afropop Worldwide
{{Authority control 21st-century Cape Verdean male singers Living people 1973 births People from Santa Catarina, Cape Verde