Manuela Lopes

They say the sunset in Mozambique is amazing and in the evening the stars are brighter than anywhere else. That´s where she was born, in a town called Beira, bathed by the Indian Ocean, in Sofala province.

In 1975, Mozambique became free of colonialism and she came back to Portugal, country of her grandfathers.

In 1979, Bonnie Tyler and Status Quo´s producers, heard her singing in Algarve, Portugal and were hooked on her voice. They had offered her a record deal and she recorded pop songs for two years. In 1985, she sang with international sax player Ronnie Scott (owner of the Ronnie Scott´s jazz club, in London) on a jazz venue in the Algarve, where she got a positive response from the local media and jazz fans. In 1993 and later, in 1997, she sang in Hot Club, the most famous jazz club in Lisbon, Portugal.

In 1994 she was, for several times, invited artist on national televison. In 1995 she met Portuguese conductor and contrabass player, Zé Eduardo and joined the first Big Band of the Algarve, "Estaleiro da Musica". In 1998, she produced her own CD, called "Paisagens", where she included 3 of her songs.

Although she is a self-taught musician, she has attended to some musical workshops in Algarve, Portugal. She has been singing throughout Portugal, Spain, England and Germany, having the chance to work with great musicians, both national and international, who shared their knowledge with her, making this beautiful musical journey so wonderful.

Watch video of Manuela singing "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" on MYSPACE