Cesaria

Evora, Cesaria

album cover

An Idyllic Masterwork from the Barefoot Diva

Geographically, the island nation of Cape Verde sits near the halfway point between Portugal and Brazil. It's close to Africa, but its music—and particularly the swooning morna that is the chosen style of Cesaria Evora, the island's most evocative singer—is strikingly European, soaked with the bittersweet regret the Portuguese call saudade, and the tremble of French chanson circa Edith Piaf.

Morna has, for over 150 years, expressed the soul of Cape Verde. It has much in common with the heart-heavy Portuguese fado—they share a sense of vague yearning. Its love songs for a distant sweet-heart are disarmingly poetic, rich with imagery and far-flung metaphors.

Evora's ribbonlike voice, which can sound serene and troubled at the same time, is the perfect conduit for morna. It took her a while to exploit it: The woman known as the "barefoot diva" (she performs without shoes in tribute to the poor of her homeland) made several recordings as a young woman. But she soon retired from music because she was a single mother and couldn't support her children by singing.

Then, when she was in her forties, Evora was invited to Portugal to record two songs for an anthology devoted to Cape Verdean music. That led to more recordings, and eventually, after her austere Miss Perfumado became an unlikely café hit, Evora began touring in Europe. Many consider that 1992 acoustic record, which contains the bedrock of her repertoire, the pure Evora experience. But far more interesting, both sonically and musically, is the follow-up Cesaria. This features a more substantial (yet still acoustic) ensemble of several guitars and an accordion. It captures Evora's lazily sauntering phrases and transparent, otherworldly tone in full idyllic glory, beckoning from a remote island vista where stillness reigns, and there is time to be alone with your thoughts.

Genre: World, Cape Verde
Released: 1995, RCA
Key Tracks: "Petit pays," "Areia de Salamansa," "Tudo tem se limite."
Catalog Choice: Miss Perfumado
Next Stop: Bebel Gilberto: Tanto tempo
After That: Mercedes Sosa: Misa Criolla
Book Page: 266