Clementina, cadê você?

I wanted to post about one of samba's rarest gems, Clementina de Jesus (1901-1987).

Listening to Clementina, or "Quelé" as she was known to many, I am sometimes overwhelmed by the sheer ancestral weight of her voice. Elton Medeiros, in a recent "for posterity" taping at the Museu da Imagem e Som (RJ), told the audience about his travels with Clementina in 1966 to Dakar, Senegal for the Festival de Arte Negra. Only recently "discovered" by Hermínio Bello de Carvalho and already in her sixties, Clementina sang to an enormous crowd of Senegalese. Elton recalled that the Senegalese were incredibly enthusiastic and that "ninguém entendeu a Clementina como os Africanos" [no one understood Clementina like the Africans did] (Medeiros 2008).

But what was it that Brazilians didn't understand about her? Was it her raw voice, rougher than most men's and only one generation removed from slavery?

Before making her professional debut, Clementina worked as a maid for over 20 years. She participated in the highly acclaimed Rosa de Ouro presentations in 1965-1967 with Araci Côrtes and the Conjunto Rosa de Ouro. In 1970 she finally recorded her first solo album, Clementina, cadê você? The following selections are all from this album. Most of the tracks are traditional folk tunes that Clementina had learned throughout her life.

"Três corimas: Ogum megê / Bendito louvado ó Ganga / Lá no mato tem ganga" (traditional)


Next is the opening track of the album, written by another legend "Vai saudade" (Candeia/David da Portela)


Finally, an awesome batuque "Beira-mar" (traditional)


Cadê você, Clementina?

refs:
Medeiros, Elton. 2008. Depoimento ao Museu da Imagem e Som, February 26. Rio de Janeiro.