Thank you for the overwhelming support for our first launch of artists for SAMA Lisbon! We are so proud of each and every one of them and would like to share what they’ve been up to since their musical interviews with SAMA. Our first season consisted of 12 different artists spanning many different genres and musical fusions. Check out the recap video here and the playlist on YouTube.
We’d also like to take a moment to appreciate the wonderful team who has been working on the ground in Lisbon. Aside from charming hosts Selma Uamusse and Mike Stellar––who you may be familiar with from the artist interviews––we would like to thank Ana Viotti, Luía Lucena, Ricardo Rodrigues, Diogo Palma, João Bejinho, Rob Roque, Iuri Landolt, Rita Bernardo, and Nadine Saize; this work would not be possible without them.
Ana Lua Caiano:
Ana Lua Caiano has just released her first full-length album, “Vou Ficar Neste Quadrado,” which has already been met with widespread acclaim and success! It’s available on all major streaming platforms; listen to it on Spotify here.
She also did an exclusive live performance for KEXP at the Conservatoire de Rennes Auditorium in Rennes, France, during Trans Musicales 2023 late last year. Be sure to check out the recording on YouTube to hear the full set.
Filipe Melo and Samuel Úria invited Ana Lua Caiano and fellow SAMA Lisbon artist Luca Argel to participate in a performance celebrating the 50 year anniversary of the 25th of April Revolution. The performance took place at the Festival da Canção 2024 and can be watched here.
Ana Lua Caiano will also be playing the Feira Internacional del Libro 2024 in Buenos Aires in May and Primavera Sound in Porto in June.
iolanda:
As mentioned on our socials, iolanda won the Festival da Canção and is going to represent Portugal in Eurovision 2024 in Malmö! Watch the live performance of her song, “Grito,” and support her through the rest of her journey in the competition.
In the wake of her beautiful set for Sónar Lisboa in mid-March, iolanda has announced a solo show at the Captólio theater in Lisbon. The first date has already sold out, with a second date just added due to high demand. If you’re in Portugal in May, you won’t want to miss it.
Gaspar Varela:
Gaspar’s band, Expresso Transatlântico, has released a powerful and fun new album entitled “Ressaca Bailada.” Check it out on Spotify here.
They are heading across the Atlantic to play at the Feira Internacional del Libro 2024 in Buenos Aires on May 9. Lisbon has been invited as the guest of honor city this year, so other Lisbon artists will also be featured. There will be a set from Ana Lua Caiano and Gaspar will be playing an additional solo gig for the festival.
Expresso Transatlântico is also a part of Sunday’s lineup for Primavera Sound in Porto on June 8th. Tickets to the festival can be found here.
Surma:
Luca Argel:
Luca’s album from 2023, “Sabina,” has since been recognized as one of the best albums of the year! It tells an amazing narrative about a lady who sold oranges in Rio de Janeiro and was wanted by the police. Listen here.
He has since been using music to spread awareness about the housing crisis in Portugal, among other issues such as health and education inequities. Check out photos and videos of his street performances here and here.
As mentioned earlier, Luca participated in the 50 year anniversary performance of the 25th of April Revolution. The performance took place at the Festival da Canção 2024 and can be watched here.
Dino d’Santiago:
Dino released the album “EVA onti y oji” late last year, which revisits and reinterprets the 10 songs from his 2013 album called “Eva.” He considers this earlier work to be the album that made him who he is as an artist, and so he has returned to create “a sonic aesthetic that transports us to the "present," without forgetting that it all began back then.” Listen to the new album here.
In 2023 he was nominated by Expresso as one of the 50 figures who could potentially define the future of Portugal and he received the Cultural Merit Medal (2nd Degree) from the Ministry of Culture and Creative Industries of Cabo Verde, making him the first Afro-descendant to receive this award from the Portuguese Government.
Dino was also featured on the cover of Forbes Africa Lusófona as one of the Voices of Lusofonia 2023 and became an ambassador of Cabo Verde, his place of origin.
Bandua:
Bandua recently did a live performance for “In The Nook Sessions,” a channel shot in Berlin that releases weekly performances in order to highlight the current songwriting scene. Check out the video here.
They also partnered with Kayzer Ballet on a contemporary play called “BABEL,” which was inspired by the Tower of Babel parable. Bandua performed all of the live music for the play; the teaser can be watched here.
Scúru Fitchádu:
Scúru has been performing shows across the globe, in places such as Portugal, France, and Cape Verde. He recently played the Bassline Festival in Johannesburg and the Sakifo Festival on Réunion Island, and will be taking on Tallinn Music Week in Estonia this April.
In collaboration with Angela Ferreira and Piny, he developed a multidisciplinary installation in Terreiro do Paço called “Liberdade Iminente.” In honor of its 50 year anniversary, the project “evokes the date of the April [25] Revolution in the context of modern times, with a strong focus on decolonization.” Learn more about the project here.
Scúru also did a live performance for DiscovrTV Studios in Johannesburg, which can be watched here.
Lavoisier:
Lavoisier released a special album in collaboration with Cantadeiras do Campo do Gerês called “Polifonias Singulares Vol.1”––listen here.
The duo went to Brazil for the show "Meu Bairro, Minha Lingua," whose mission is “the rediscovery of our roots, cultural heritages and historical relationships, through music, through the approach of Portuguese language artists.” They performed in both São Paulo and Brasilia, where Dino D’Santiago also participated. Check out coverage of these recent shows on their Instagram, and watch the web series they did for the same project back in 2021.
They also did a beautiful residency in Ilhavo with a group of young people where they played the album “Por Este Rio Acima” by Fausto Bordalo Dias, a staple in Portuguese music history. Photos here.
LURA:
LURA was one of the judges for the first and second semifinal rounds at the Festival da Canção 2024. Hear her speak about it here.
Her latest album “MULTICOLOR,” released late last year is still receiving a lot of love and attention and she has been touring abroad. Her latest set of concerts were in Germany in March and included the Over the Border Festival in Bonn.
Filipe Sambado:
Filipe just embarked on her solo tour across Portugal for her 4th album entitled “Três Anos de Escorpião em Touro” which can be streamed here.
In wake of the album she has been written about in Express Journal and Notícias ao Minuto. The album consists of “14 very complete songs, with infectious lyrics and melodies, which are supported by a cohesive morphological symbiosis of digital, acoustic, electronic and analog.”
Paulo Flores:
Paulo has been playing many shows across Portugal and Africa, most recently in Angola as seen on his Instagram.
He has also been collaborating with other artists; he is featured on Cape Verdean singer Nancy Vieira’s new album “Gente” on the song “Meditá.” They performed the song live together last month in Lisbon. Check out photos from the show here and stream the song on Spotify here.