Matos Trio was born from a deep connection between three musicians with distinct paths, brought together by accumulated experience and a shared passion: the music of Cabo Verde and the freedom of improvisation. From that bond, they build a contemporary proposition that projects Cape Verdean music into a global context. Drawing on rhythms such as morna, koladera, batuku, funaná, and mazurka, the trio reimagines these languages with an open and universal approach. Each performance is a space of freedom, where improvisation and musical complicity give life to sounds that exist nowhere else.
The musicians: Carlos Matos — pianist, conductor, and music teacher based in Rotterdam, with a long career in Cape Verdean music and extensive international festival experience, shaped significantly by his connection to CaboCubaJazz. N'Du — drummer, teacher, and music educator, with a strong presence across reference projects in Portugal throughout the 1990s, bringing influences from soul and African percussion. Elias Gomes — bassist, the youngest of the three, responsible for the urban-inspired grooves that enrich the group's sound.
On stage, the dialogue never stops — between glances, rhythms, and emotions — taking audiences on a journey that begins in Cabo Verde and opens out to the world. Drawing from Cape Verdean tradition through to urban sounds, soul, and improvised music, the trio builds an identity of its own: authentic, enveloping, and without borders — a new form of expression for contemporary Cape Verdean music. The 4th of April marks a new chapter with the release of their first vinyl LP — a celebration of Cape Verdean roots with a global vision.
Roots in Cabo Verde. Eyes on the world.
