Carmen started singing professionally at the age of 17 in a Lusophone Gospel Choir named Shout and since then she participated in several projects from Funky to Soul, Jazz and World music, with whom she toured extensively. Her compositions were also included in albums released by projects in where she participated has singer. Being a strong spiritual person, Carmen always saw music has her mission and felt privilege to have the opportunity to express herself trough it, working hard everyday to deserve that opportunity.

Musicians like Luis Morais, Theo Pas'cal, Joe Zawinul, Herbie Hancock, etc, are definitely the ones that truly inspire her evolution and search for a personal style different from anything you ever heard. Theo Pas'cal, her producer and mentor and one of the best bass players in Portugal, was the one to discover her talent and introduce Carmen to Jazz, Fusion and other contemporary sounds that really influenced her.

In 2003, together with Theo, Carmen started working in the compositions that would be included in her debut album Ess e nha Cabo Verde. Carmen wanted to create a new and unique sound in her ancestors' dialect, Creole, that would mix traditional African and Cape Verde rhythms like Batuke, Morna, Cola djon, and others, with her jazz/soul contemporary influences, in a totally intimate and acoustic vibe, different from the traditional festive environment of Cape verdian sounds.

Ess e nha Cabo Verde, released in 2005, received great reviews from the Cape Verde press not only in Cape Verde but also in USA and was considered by the critics as a reflection of Cape Verde music evolution. The album made it to playlists internationally and is also distributed in several countries.

Carmen's international live debut happened in July 2005 during the mythic Womad Festival in Reading, UK by the hand of BBC3 on their "World on your street stage.

Articles:

• The Bird-o-meter and Youth Culture: Exploring World Pop & Fusion of the 20-something Generation