Solo, sometimes followed by a Trio = Voice, guitars and percussion, and sometimes by a sextet = bass, drums, percussion, keyboard, guitar and Voice
Influences
As a Badyo, so, as a Mestizo... He has a great Variety of Influences, from Bach to Manu Dibango, or Milton Nascimento to Pat Metheney. So you can't really say who or what are his influences , because in the end, his influences are the result of the sum of various sources of influences.
Mário Lúcio Sousa has a degree in Law, and worked as a lawyer for ten years. He left the profession in order to dedicate himself entirely to art.
Biographical
Lúcio Matias de Sousa Mendes, better known by his artistic name, Mário Lúcio was born in Tarrafal, on the island of Santiago, Cape Verde, on October 21, 1964. In 1984 he obtained a scholarship from the Cuban government to study Law at the University of Havana, from which he graduated in 1990.
He returned to Cape Verde and practiced as an independent lawyer.
He was a Deputy in the Cape Verdean parliament from 1996 to 2001.
He served as Adviser to the Minister of Culture (1992) and was recently named Cultural Ambassador of Cape Verde.
Music
Mário Lúcio Sousa is founder and leader of the musical group Simentera,
His conceptions earned him an invitation from the Cape Verdean government to serve as Adviser to the Commissioner for Expo/92 and author of Cape Verde’s musical project for the 92 Seville Expo and the 98 Lisbon Expo.
He is a multi-instrumentalist and arranger of various albums by Cape Verdean solo artists.
As a composer, he is a member of SACEM (Societé française des Droits d’auteur), with compositions recorded by Cesária Évora and other Cape Verdean artists. He is the permanent composer of the company Raiz di Polon, the only contemporary dance formation in the archipelago.
He has performed concerts in the United States, Brazil, France, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Austria, Senegal, Mauritania, Portugal, Switzerland, Slovenia, Greece, Spain, Luxemburg, Belgium, Italy, Romania, England, China, among other places.
Some artists who have participated in Mário Lucio’s Works: Cameroon’s Manu Dibango, Senegal’s Touré Kunda, Brazil’s Paulinho Da Viola and Gilberto Gil, Portugal’s Maria João, Mário Laginha and Luis Represas. He is a student of traditional musical forms, among them the vocal music of the Rabelados religious community of the island of Santiago
Literature
He is the author of the following works: Nascimento de Um Mundo (poetry, 1990); Sob os Signos da Luz (poetry, 1992); Para Nunca Mais Falarmos de Amor (poetry, 1999); Os Trinta Dias do Homem mais Pobre do Mundo (fiction, 2000 – winner of the 1st edition of the Portuguese Language Bibliographical Fund award); Adão e As Sete Pretas de Fuligem (theater, 2001).
Painting
Mário Lúcio Sousa belongs to the movement of the new generation of Cape Verdean painters. He has participated in various exhibits in Cape Verde and abroad.
