Ronco di MarBiography:
Bau (a "box" in portuguese), it's a funny name, but its briefness and its guttural sound make it easy to remember.
Rufino Almeida, a.k.a. Bau, is a native of Sao Vicente, one of the Cape Verde archipelago islands which was the birthplace of many artists: Cesaria Evora, Bana Titina, Tito Paris... and composers, as B. Leza, Manuel de Novas, Frank Cavaquim, Goy, Vasco Martins.
Bau's father was a stringed instruments maker in Mindelo and gave him for his seventh birthday his first instrument, a cavaquinho, which is a small four strings guitar, similar to a ukulele, used in Brazil and in Cape Verde to mark the beat. Then his father taught him how to make instruments like guitars, cavaquinhos, violins but also how to play them; and Bau won't stop until he has mastered musical skills. That allowed him to combine an instrumental virtuosity with his instinctive autodidact sensitivity. Bau's favourite cavaquinho player was the Brazilian virtuoso, Waldir Azevedo; however he also admired the "guitara flamenca" style of Al Di Meola or the violin of Stephane Grapelli. But beyond these influences, Bau gets also this islands musicians charm and this elegance that make the Capeverdean music syncopated, rhythmic, nostalgic and intimate.
In 1994, Bau integrated the band (conducted by Paulino Vieira) that accompanied Cesaria Evora on stage. In 1996, Bau became the director of this musical formation and started to travel around the world thanks to Cesaria world success. He also participated to the realization of the albums "Cabo Verde" (1997) and "Cafй Atlantico" (1999).
In September 99, Bau gave up the direction of Cesaria's band to the pianist Nando Andrade and went back to Mindelo, his island. That's where he conceived the album "Blimundo", which is all about finesse and musical subtleties and remains to date his most achieved piece of work.
Состав группы Bau (Кабо-Верде): Jacinto Pereira (cavaquinho), José Paris (bass), Luis Ramos (guitars), Nando Andrade (piano), Totinho (saxophones and percussion), and Bau/ Rufino Almeida (guitars, cavaquinho, violin).