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Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collection, 2015.196.448.1, Connecticut Historical S ...
Cape Verdean Musicians at The Gathering, 2018
Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collection, 2015.196.448.1, Connecticut Historical Society, Copyright Undetermined

Cape Verdean Musicians at The Gathering, 2018

Subject (Cape Verdean)
Subject (Cape Verdean)
Subject (Cape Verdean)
Subject (Cape Verdean)
Date2018 September 23
Mediumborn digital photography
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections
CopyrightIn Copyright
Object number2015.196.448.1-.7
DescriptionPhotographs of Cape Verdean musicians at The Gathering in Waterbury, Connecticut on September 23, 2018.

2015.196.448.1: Photo of members of the procession and drumming group Trovoada do Norte, including Dario Lopes (center with drum), Gamy Talho (with scarf), and Pelagio Silva (on right with drum sticks).

2015.196.448.2: Photo of members of the procession and drumming group Trovoada do Norte, including Dario Lopes (center with drum), Gamy Talho (with scarf), and Pelagio Silva (on right with drum sticks) and Jose Conceicao (on far left).

2015.196.448.3: Photo of Jose Conceicao.

2015.196.448. 4-.5: Photos of the group of musicians with the banner. The banner reads “Cape Verdean Social Club Inc./ Trovoada Do Norte / Waterbury, CT U.S.A.” and “Caravana Pioneira / Trovoada Do Norte / Cabo Verde 2005”.

2015.196.448.6: Photo of Jose Conceicao with another member of the group.

2015.196.448.7: Photo of Jose Conceicao with other members of the group.
NotesSubject Note: The Gathering is an expansive and inclusive one-day festival that celebrates the cultures of western Connecticut, particularly the ethnic groups in Waterbury. Begun in 2013, by journalist John Murray of the Waterbury Observer, councilman Geraldo Reyes, and several other supporters including members of city government, The Gathering attracts thousands of visitors to Library Park in Waterbury. Over 100 ethnic and civic groups display art works and information on their cultural group at tables set up around the park, and music and dance groups perform throughout the day on four stages. Dozens of food vendors sell ethnic cuisine. The day starts off with a parade of ethnic groups through downtown Waterbury. The goal of event is to bring together the many ethnic groups that reside in the area; many of them host their own ethnic events and The Gathering aims to introduce them to each other and to the public. The Cape Verdean Social Club participates with musicians especially from the group performing repicar de tambor, and also has a table with information on Cape Verde.


Subject Note for the Waterbury Cape Verdean Community: Waterbury has become a major center of Cape Verdean culture in Connecticut. Numbering around 200 families in the late 1990s, most Cape Verdeans in this area today came from the island of Sao Nicolau, with some from Fogo, Sao Vincente, and Sao Antao. Many more recent immigrants from Cape Verde have moved to Waterbury, making the cultural expressions here very traditional. Early immigrants settled here to work at the Scovill, Chase, and American Brass factories, especially after 1935, when the cranberry industry in Massachusetts diminished. New arrivals work in professional as well as blue collar trades.

Cape Verdeans settled in the Phoenix Street/Abbott Avenue area, very near the brass factories where they worked. More recently they have concentrated on Oak Street, which they joke should be named Sao Nicolau Street. Around 1935, a group of men founded the first social club on Abbott Avenue, moving to Vine Street as they grew. In 1993, officers of the Club purchased the present building at 1181 North Main Street. A full schedule of activities there includes musical Noite Caboverdiana (Cape Verdean nights) with popular bands from New England and Cape Verde; mazurca and funana dance contests; biska card game tournaments; and celebrations of saints' feast days with processions, repicar di tambor (intense drumming and movement) and Cape Verdean foods. These events often serve as fundraisers for families in need. Recently the Cape Verdean ambassador to the United States spent a full day at the club, taking part in a community discussion attended by representatives from Cape Verdean organizations in Bridgeport and Norwich as well.

Waterbury musicians, such as singer Johnny Spinola and bassist Tony Santos traveled and performed with Joe Silva's band throughout New England in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. When he arrived from Sao Antao in the late 1960s, keyboard player Armando Gomes formed a Cape Verdean band called Ultramarine, the name given by the Portuguese to all their colonies. After independence and an influx of new members from the islands the band became Cape Verde '75.

One of Connecticut's most accomplished Cape Verdean musicians, Jorge Job is a Cape Verdean guitar and cavaquinho player as well as a composer in Krioulu, the local language of Cape Verde. Jorge and his son Rui, a professional keyboard player and record producer, have arranged many of Jorge's compositions for their CD "Geracao," published in 2006. Bassist Djim Job (Jorginho), a professional bass player, has collaborated with his father on several musical ventures including composing mornas under the Southern New England Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program in 2005-2006. Jorge has continued to play music at the Cape Verdean Social Club well into his 90s.

As in Bridgeport, young Waterbury Cape Verdeans participated in a dance group. In the late 1990s/early 2000s the group Warm Heart performed mazurca, funana, and tchabeta (a very fast rhythm-driven women's dance, part of a batuko performance) under the direction of Raquel Figueiredo. In addition to local performances, the group traveled to Providence, Rhode Island for the annual Cape Verdean Independence Day celebration on July 5. They worked with Rhode Island traditional musician Joao Cerilo Monteiro as part of the Southern New England Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program from 1999-2001.

Separation from their homeland led many Cape Verdean immigrants to compose mornas, songs of great longing and sadness. Mornas remain beloved especially by the older generation who remember the reasons for composing them. Other traditional musical forms such as coladeira, mazurca, and samba are enjoying something of a revival among younger Cape Verdeans, while the African-influenced funana is wildly popular on the contemporary club scene. Playing instruments, singing, dancing, and drumming still happen spontaneously at festivals and social gatherings.

Connecticut musicians such as Jorge Job have been composers of mornas and other Cape Verdean song styles, while the Waterbury community maintain the repicar de tambor, a drumming and dance tradition practiced at the Festa de São João in June.


Cataloging Note: This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-245929-OMS-20.
Status
Not on view
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