Music from Cape Verde
Rabasa is a typical exponent of the Cape Verdian diaspora. They have lived in the vicinity of the Dutch harbour city of Rotterdam for many years now. In this city the success of a band that is now a respected guest of international podia and festivals, started.
Rabasa plays a variety of genres of the warm Cape Verdean music. The alluring and distinctive vocal sounds of Cape Verdean music, which can be moving one moment and swinging the next, are accompanied by acoustic instruments such as guitar, cavaquinho, diatonic accordion and percussion and drum.
The music of Rabasa is deeply rooted in the musical traditions of Cape Verde. Over the years, Rabasa has developed its own sound based on these traditions. The repertoire takes the listener on a tour of the different genres of Cape Verdean music, from the melancholy morna to the steamy funana.
Rabasa
The Rotterdam-based brothers João, Jorge, Tó and Angelito Ortet come from a farmer’s family from the little village of Rui Vaz on the island of Santiago, and make up the group’s core. Inspired by their older brothers Lindo and Emanuel, they began playing music at a very early age. They performed music and theatre in church and learned the tricks of the trade from their brothers and from playing with the older people in the village.
For many people on Cape Verde, the process of gathering water is a daily ritual, as it was for the Ortet brothers who each day had to trek many kilometres from their house in a breathtaking green mountaintop area to the water source.
The four Ortet brothers founded Rabasa in 1998. Singer Terezinha Fernandes, born in São Lourenço dos Órgãos (Santiago), and percussionist Hans de Lange, born in Rotterdam, joined shortly after. Alongside drummer Nataniël (Tati) Gomes, they formed Rabasa's lineup from 2022. Following Tati's sudden death in 2023, Rabasa enlisted Hendrik (Diekko) Dos Santos Ribeiro as their new drummer.
Hans has performed with Splash, and Gil Semedo. He previously played alongside Américo Brito, Bana, Ildo Lobo, Luis Morais, Manuel d' Novas, and Djozinha at their concerts in the Netherlands. Rotterdam-born Hendrik Dos Santos Ribeiro was previously part of the band “Young Talents” with his brothers and also contributed to the project “Kanta Ku Mi”.