Revealed artists who will perform in concerts to celebrate Luís Represas

According to the promoter of the shows, in a statement released today, they will go up to the stage of the Porto Colosseum on April 17, Ana Moura, Camané, Edu Miranda, João Pedro Pais, João Só, Jorge Cruz, Luísa Sobral, Mafalda Veiga, Mariana Nuñez, Marisa Liz, Miguel Nuñez, Ricardo Ribeiro, Rui Veloso, Stewart Sukuma and the musicians who, with Luís Represas, formed the Trovante.

At the concert at the Colosseum of Recreios, in Lisbon, on April 10, the Four and Half and Vitorino are also joined.

Luís Represas died on July 22, this year, at the age of 69. The musician, whose career began in the Trovante, had scheduled concerts celebrating the 50 years of career for the Colosseums of Lisbon and Porto, which after his death became events to remember Luís Represas.

Maintaining the concerts, “a desire and a principle very repeated in recent weeks are fulfilled: that of not letting silence, not allowing it to be forgotten, a singular work, that changed and shaped the paths of Portuguese Music”, said the promoter in the shows, in August, in a statement.

As announced on the same occasion, “the musical map” of the concerts to celebrate Luís Represas “will continue to be the same [that would be the concerts where the musician would mark the 50 years of career], in essence, but this time(s) the visits will be guided by those who make a point of taking the testimony with both hands”.

The musical direction of the concerts will be in charge of Manuel Faria, “present and active in Trovante and on the way to solo of Represas”, with the support of Carlos Garcia, “nuclear in the most recent times of the singer”, and Miguel Nuñez, “the Cuban pianist who also walked several times side by side with Luís”.

The career of Luís Represas, started on August 4, 1976, official date of the formation of the Trovante, is divided “on two sides, although one strongly contaminated the other,” the musician said in an interview with Lusa, in May, when the concerts were announced.

“The first phase is the appearance of Trovante in 1976. And [from] this whole phase, by 1992, the story was already more than told, it is more than told: there were shows [the group came together again live a few times, the last of which in March of this year], where the story was told even more”, he said, at the time.

From the end of the Trovante to today, “there is a story that perhaps was not so told, but it was very much lived”.

It was especially in those years, on the ground, that the spectacles would be on the coliseums.

Luís Represas was born in Lisbon in 1956 and, shortly before his 20th birthday, he founded the Trovante with his friends João Gil, Manuel Faria, Artur Costa and his brother João Represas. A year later, the album “Our Zone” came out.

This debut album marked the group's musical identity, strongly influenced by popular and traditional music and rock.

Trovante – a name that refers to an old name of troubadours who sang and composed thunders – would remain active until the 1990s, editing, for example, albums such as “Baile no Bosque” (1981), “Cais das Colinas” (1983), “Earth Firme” (1987) and “One Of These Days” (1990).

After the separation, they met sometimes, notably in 1999, in 2006, in 2017 and last March.

Luís Represas released solo in 1993, with the album “Represas”, the result of a trip to Cuba, where it was recorded, and where it played with several musicians, including Pablo Milanés (1943-2022).

With songs such as “Out of Time”, “Neva sobre a marginal” and “Wizard”, this album was fundamental in its course, as Lusa told the agency in May.

In 1996, he edited "Cumplicities", an album with the collaboration of pianist Bernardo Sassetti (1970-2012). The following were followed: “The hour of the wolf” (1998), “Green Code” (2000), “Special Reserve” (2001) and “Out of Hand” (2003).

In 2008 he re-edited a full-length album in Cuba, "Eyes in the Eyes", and in 2011 joined João Gil, accomplice of the Trovante, for a joint album: "Luís Represas and João Gil". Then he edited “Cores” (2014), “Good time” (2018) (distinguished by the Portuguese Society of Authors), “Mirage” (2024) and several live albums.

The story of Luís Represas also includes support for the independence of East Timor. The song “Timor”, with music by João Gil and lyrics by João Monk, which came from the group’s album “One of these days”, he joined the Trovante in 1999 and became one of the main themes of the struggle that led to Timorese independence. The lyrics would be translated into tetum by Xanana Gusmão.

Represas was invited by then Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio to accompany him on his official visit to Timor-Leste in 2000. In 2016, he was awarded the Medal of the Order of East Timor by the then President, Taur Matan Ruak. In 2005, he was distinguished by the Portuguese State with the Order of Merit – the Commendador degree.

Throughout his career, Luís Represas worked with musicians such as Fausto Bordalo Dias, José Afonso, Carlos do Carmo, Bernardo Sassetti, Pablo Milanés, Ivan Lins, Martinho da Vila, Simone, Jorge Palma, Phil Collins, Compay Segundo, Gilberto Gil and Carlinhos Brown, among many others.

Dams also engaged in the restoration, having led the management of a bar-restaurant in Lisbon, the Xafarix, edited a children’s book, “The Courage of Tition”, and presented the television program “Mother Language”.