Lorna Cordeiro

Lorna Cordeiro

Lorna Cordeiro, a Konkani language singer from the state of Goa, India, is popularly known as the Goan nightingale.

Family life

Cordeiro was born in Saligao, Goa on the 9 August 1944 to Cecelia and Teofilo Cordeiro, the third child born in a family of three boys and three girls. Her siblings were Elvino, Albert, Jean, Oscar, Salvador and Clementine. Her sister Jean was also a crooner in a different band. Their ancestral house in Saligao is in Tabravaddo; the family would often visit after they moved to Bombay. Lorna belongs to the Goan Catholic community; Fr. Nascimento Mascarenhas, their immediate neighbour in Goa, recalls being very impressed by the family's singing of Konkani hymns after the night Rosary.^[1] Lorna recalled how as a young girl another Parsi neighbour in Mumbai would clap and gift her four annas, whenever he heard her sing along with the radio. "My girl, one day you'll be a big singer," he'd often say.^[2] Not much is known about Lorna's father Teofilo. Her mother encouraged her children in music and to speak Konkani at home. After 23 years of not performing, Ronnie Monseratte recruited Lorna's mother to convince her to sing again. Cecelia died on 4 March 2002, a month after her 89th birthday.

Career

Lorna was one of the dominant Goan Singers, particularly in the 1970s. She regards Chris Perry as her guru (teacher) and credits him for bringing to light her singing talent and making her a popular singer. Lorna's family encouraged and supported her singing talents. From the age of 15, for 9 years, she sang for Chris Perry’s Band in English, basically as a Jazz singer in Star Hotels and Night Clubs in Bombay, Delhi, Calcutta, Madras and Bangalore. She has sung many popular songs composed / arranged by Chris Perry which remain unforgettable hits.^[3]

Some songs sung by her are:

• Pisso
• Bebdo
• Red Rose
• Tuzo mog
• Noxibak Rodta

In popular culture

Nachom-ia Kumpasar : ('Let's dance to the rhythm'), is a Konkani film. It is based on the lives of two jazz musicians, Chris Perry and Lorna. The film, which takes its title from the name of a song by the two artists. The story is told through over 20 popular Konkani songs from the 1960s and 1970s that have been re-recorded for this film.[4] The film is set in the 1960s and is a tribute to the 'unsung' Konkani musicians of that era.

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