Cape Verdean saxophonist Totinho, who accompanied Cesaria Evora, has died

Cape Verdean saxophonist Antonio Fernandes, better known as Totinho, who accompanied Cesaria Evora in the final years of her international career, has died at the age of 60 in Praia Hospital due to poor health, officials said.

Totinho accompanied Cesária Évora in the last years of her career, as well as several other artists, and was part of the mythical group Os Tubarões, which won the Carreia Award at the last Cabo Verde Music Awards (CVMA) gala on June 1.

Born in Praia, he was considered a top instrumentalist and was awarded at the 4th CVMA ceremony in 2014, the official music award of the archipelago.

“Totinho’s last breath. He has just passed into eternity. Rest in peace, dear friend. See you forever,” wrote the President of the Republic, José Maria Neves.

“It is with deep regret that we received the news of the death of Totinho, an icon of the saxophone and one of Cape Verde’s most brilliant musicians,” said Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva.

According to the CEO, Totinho has not only enriched the music of Cesária Évora with his “incomparable talent”, but has also “marked the music scene” as a soloist since 2012, “bringing the sounds of Cape Verde to the four corners of the world”.

“Cape Verde has lost one of its finest representatives, but his art will remain with us, perpetuating his memory and inspiring future generations,” he promised.

“The legend leaves” “an inevitable reference to music,” Cape Verdean Culture Minister Abraão Vicente also wrote.

“Rest in peace, Totinho! Your life and your journey make you a legend of our music and our culture! Cape Verdean culture is getting poorer!” the government official concluded.

The Kriol Jazz Festival (KJF), the event where he last performed in April, wrote that the country was “mourning” the physical disappearance of this “superb saxophonist.”