The Sum of Candida Rose

In a candid interview with “Candida Rose” Hemsley she describes, in her own words her debut album entitled “KabuMerikana: The Sum of Me”. “It defines who I’m and what I feel. All the little pieces of who I’m and that is Cape Verdean as well as an American,” says Candida Rose. The 45-year-old mother, wife, and grandmother wanted the album to be a marriage of her two worlds which has helped to define the person that she is today. “I decided that it couldn’t be one or the other, it just wouldn’t be fair. I wanted the CD to be rooted in the Cape Verdean culture, although I was born here,” she continues.

The title of the album captures just what represents “Candida Rose”; Cape Verdean/American woman. When asked where the catch phrase originated from, with a delicate smile she gave much credit to her producer “Kalu” Monteiro who helped her to brainstorm a name that would encapsulate the essence of her worlds. “I want to bring those two worlds together through the music. I also wanted to make sure that whoever was listening to this CD would understand it,” explains the vocalist. Uniquely so, Rose provides her listeners with a translation within some of the songs in both English and Krioulo.

The album has been a long awaited phenomenon but certainly serves to prove that everything happens within its own timing. “I have always wanted to put together a CD since the mid 80’s but the time finally felt right,” she says. The 10 track CD was recorded from July of 2005 to December of 2005 at Notera Studios in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The album finally hit the market on May 30, 2006. Her debut CD is an eclectic mix of her Cape Verdean musical roots and her American influences of jazz/blues and gospel/spiritual. Beautifully combined, she introduces to the world a fresh perspective and compilation of both World and Jazz music in which she defines as “KabuJazz”.

Born, raised and currently residing in New Bedford, Massachusetts the female vocalist remained true to her roots. Her late father George Antonio Baptista had always been a significant part of her life and in helping to keep the Cape Verdean Culture alive. “My father was everything to me; he died thirteen years ago but it still feels like yesterday,” says Rose. Just an infant when her mother Gertrude Santos Baptista died and she was left to be raised by her grandmother and later by her father and stepmother Ecilda Lobo who arrived to the States speaking no English. In an attempt to communicate with her stepmother, Candida learned to speak Krioulo early on in her childhood.

When she moved to Boston, Massachusetts in her early adulthood, she lost the connection with her Cape Verdean Culture along with her speech. “I lost a lot of my connection being away from the Cape Verdean community,” she explains. There was a twenty year span in her adulthood with her being away from the Cape Verdean Community. But she would soon return to where it all began; New Bedford.

It would not be just to describe “Candida Rose” without first introducing the profound impact that the church has had both personally and musically. “I wanted to build a relationship with God and trying to figure out what I was supposed to be doing with my music,” she says. She joined the Church in 1995 where she would then be introduced to gospel music. Without really knowing much about the fundamentals of gospel, she began to learn more through research and teaching of the youth choir.

Conflicted between her love of being a Jazz performer and a woman of God, she began her quest for answers. “I have always been able to touch people with my singing, I wanted to still be able to do that,” she says. She sought direction from her pastor at the time and he gave her his blessing to do what she felt was right in her heart; that was to continue to perform. “You don’t have to be in church to touch somebody, to minister to somebody,” she says. The very first thing said to “Candida Rose” after speaking with her pastor was ‘God bless you’ during one of her performances. This not only served as a sign for her to continue to perform but an inspiration for her to further her education.

In May 2005 “Candida Rose” Hemsley graduated magna cum lade with a bachelor’s degree in African-American/World Music Studies from UMass Dartmouth. “What brought my wanting to reconnect was really going back to school to study African-American World Music,” says Rose. During her studies however, she began to question why there weren’t any focus on Cape Verdean music. “I started doing that same kind of research about Cape Verdean music that I did about Jazz,” she reveals. The passion for her discovery would soon escalate with her researching deeper and discovering the great Cape Verdean/American Jazz musician, Horace Silver. Fascinated by the way he incorporated the Cape Verdean Culture into Jazz music; Rose too would combine these two worlds through her own diverse style.

The vision of this new released album is to share with the world what it truly means to be “KabuMerikana”. “I can honestly say that with this CD, each song means something,” she says. “I sing what I feel that is why every song on the CD has a meaning. I try to convey that feeling through my voice.”

With each track you are bound to find a little of everything. She has dedicated her heart and soul to this project and now comes the time to share it with the world. In the songs entitled ‘Afro Blue’ and ‘That’s All (E So)’, sings an American Jazz standard. In ‘Sodade (Missing You)’ and ‘Amor di Mai (A Mother’s Love)’, sings Cape Verdean standard. “The song ‘Sodade’ for me has become a reverse, it’s a sodade for a country that I have never even seen, never even been to.” To sum it all up, “Candida Rose” demonstrates with this album her song writing, composing, and arranging skills in songs: ‘Kabu Verdi Un Dia (Cape Verde, One Day)’, ‘Karta pa Nha Pai (Letter to my Father)’, and ‘Too Late to turn Back Now’.

When Rose described “Karta pa Nha Pai” and its meaning, we both stood in silence, her soul opened up and I understood it all. “Now he will always be alive for eternity. His spirit will always know that and people will know what he is to me.” Little words were needed to explain a daughter’s undying love for her father. Although he is not here to hear her words to him, she hopes that through her music he may be able to.

“This last song really brings the CD together, it’s about me but in a greater scheme of things, it’s about who my people are and that is a mix of everything.” Delivered through spoken word the song, ‘Sum Of Me (Un Poku di Tude-A Little of All)’ was a poem given to Rose by her professor and renowned poet, Everett Hoagland. This poem is what inspired the project to take the direction in sharing the richness of her culture.

The making of the album has been a family affair and a unity of artistic talents. “Candida Rose” wholeheartedly gives many praises to her husband Leon Hemsley taking the photos for the cover page and doing the design. Her stepdaughter Gina designed the logo for her production company ‘Golden Rose Music’. While also blessed with artistic abilities, daughter Marissa Terryce sings background vocals.

This album will touch the young and the old as it speaks to the heart and the soul. “I truly try to sing from my heart and my soul,” she concludes. There is calmness about her person as well as her voice that sends you to a place deep within yourself; I was at that place while in her presence.