Music from Cape Verde

Cape Verde lies 350 miles off the west coast of Africa. Colonized bythe Portuguese in the 1400s, the islands became a key outpost in theslave trade – and were the last many saw of Africa before being shippedoff to the Americas. It's no wonder, then, that Portugal's fado morphedinto Cape Verde's morna, a style that, like fado, is focused on"sodade," or longing. For such a small system of islands, Cape Verdehas had a deep impact on the world music scene. Musicians there keepequally close ties with Lisbon and Paris, and many have exported theirtalents and become stars.

Cesaria Evora is the world's foremost singer of the morna, the indigenous style of Africa's Cape Verde Islands. The morna evolved as a hybrid of Portuguese fados,British sea shanties, and African rhythm, reflecting the island'shistory as a Portuguese colony and spot for British coal mining. Somesay it was also influenced by the modinha, a Brazilian song form. Full of mournful melodies and slow tempos, Evora's music encapsulates the essence of the morna in its sadness, longing, and nostalgia. Her latest outing, Cafe Atlantico,finds her in a slightly less somber, more cabaret-tinged setting,complete with string and horn sections, a troupe of backup singers, andseveral percussionists. Evora's voice soars above this festive mix,retaining the sodade, or yearning, that runs deep within her music.
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