Tcheka

Tcheka

Following the success of the great Cesaria Evora, Manuel Lopes Andrade, otherwise known as Tcheka, is a leading light in the new generation of Cape Verdean musicians. Playing his guitar in the batuque style, Tcheka transposes beats that are usually played on percussion, bringing us a blues that is lunar, arid, and grandiose, like the landscape of Santiago, his native Cape Verde Island. On his second album, Nu Monda , the young writer (not yet 32) returns to batuque, one of the popular beats on the island of Santiago, and explores other styles, such as tabanka, a carnival beat, or talulu, which is played on All Saints’ Day on the island of Fogo. Tcheka’s beautiful songs, resonant voice and film-star looks are making him the first international male vocal sensation from the Cape Verde Islands.