The Queen of Carimbó, Dona Onete Talks Passion and Marrying Elvis (Interview)

On the eve of her arrival at WOMAD – and of her 80^th birthday – Brazilian force of nature Dona Onete talks to The 13^th Floor about love, life and the story that drives her sensual, soulful lyrics.

Dona Onete has been called The Queen of Carimbó and the grande dame of Amazonian song, and she likes to say that her first audience was a crowd of dolphins. Her music and her lyrics speak richly, emotionally, spicily of her home in northern Brazil, in the town of Igarapé-Miri. Oh, and she began her music career at age 73.

This joyful, sassy, radiant sun of a woman dubs her unique style ‘carimbó chamegado’ – carimbó being the music and dance from the Amazon basin that has African indigenous roots. The ‘chamegado’ part? That’s 100 percent Dona Onete.

“’Chamegado’ or ‘cuddle’ is my gentle way of singing, which became a mark and a feature of my music. The evolution came while we created intimacy with the audience,” she tells The 13^th Floor. And luckily for us, just shy of her 80^th birthday, Dona Onete is heading to WOMAD to cuddle us all with her powerful, soulful and emotion-fuelled voice.

It’s been quite the journey for this former history teacher and union organiser, now in high demand since the release of her debut album Feitiço Caboclo in 2014.

Since then she’s recorded several albums, but it was the 2017 release of Banzeiro – a title which refers to the waves a boat makes in the water – that made the world really sit up and take notice. The music combines carimbó, cumbia, bolero and ‘bangue’ – a fast rhythm style of music introduced by slaves to Igarapé-Miri.

While her fame has been relatively recent, Dona Onete has been singing “since I can remember.” Perhaps this is a good time to explain the dolphins.

“When people ask me, I usually say my first audience was a bunch of botos [a local dolphin species] in a river. I used to sing and toss some jambos (local fruit) in the water and they came to the surface to eat. To me, it was like they were there to listen to me.”

Early on, she’d sing in bars and at local community events, but an early marriage at age 22 put a stop to that, as her husband didn’t want her to perform. It was her second husband who urged her to resume what she so clearly loved and had a talent for. So, by now in her 60s, she did – joining local band Coletivo Rádio Cipó. But it was only in 2006 that Dona Onete performed her own solo gig at Terrua Para, a line-up of local musicians from her home state of Pará. How was that, having the spotlight on her alone? “I didn’t feel nervous, it felt like I was home, in ecstasy. It was such a thrill!”

She’s philosophical about her late start in music. Asked how she feels about having her career delayed for so long, she replies: “Ah, I guess it all happened the way it had to be. I wouldn’t change a single thing. I was writing other pieces of this story…”

That story is what informs her lyrics and music – which with great emotion and often stark realism speak of her roots and her people. This ambassador for Amazonian culture sings about everything from the big stuff – sex, love and heartbreak – to the more evocatively specific – the ‘fishy smell’ of the water and salty kisses. “My compositions are basically about places where I grew, foods of our region, our mix of races, our rhythms… Sometimes, sitting down, having lunch, lyrics come to my mind.”

Dona Onete, who alongside Brazilian singers Alcione and Cauby Peixoto counts Elvis Presley among her musical idols – “when I was younger I used to say I was going to marry Elvis” [laughs] – sees music as a unifying force. Even when (like right now) we need a Portuguese interpreter to communicate, music needs no translation.

“Music is a language that unites everybody, breaks barriers. I don’t understand what you say too, but we feel all of this energy. Lyrics and melody are a bond, like in some kind of marriage… they just complete each other.”

Still, without actual translation, we’d miss out on her beautiful metaphors. Like in Coração Brechó, where she says her heart is “a second-hand store full of happy and sad memories”.

“Coração Brechó was a song in particular that I made to a dear friend that was going through a breakup at the time. In the story, she is the hurt person. I lived a difficult relationship with my first husband, who stopped me from doing many things I liked until I got divorced and lived my greatest love story with my second husband. My beloved Siqueira!”

Has music helped her with her own sadnesses?

“Singing is life, right?! It changes everything!”

Maria Hoyle