Saturday, March 28, 2009

Cesaria Evora, the Queen of Morna

Cesaria Evora
When listening to morna one can instantly feel at peace, serene even. Morna is Cape Verde's unique contribution to the world's soundscape - it is a sound that flows effortlessly over an acoustic guitar, hand claps, and drums. There is no music better suited to fit the soul of Cape Verde, a land defined by the sea, by the soft ocean breeze, by the saudade they feel towards their departed sons. There are many more Cape Verdeans living outside of Cape Verde than in it, and the song Sodade beautifully invokes the feeling of longing the a Cape Verdean émigré feels toward his homeland. No one does morna better than the barefoot diva, the one who made it known outside of Cape Verde. In the song Angola, her motherly voice sings cheerfully over hand claps and several string instruments, and basically nothing else. Still, the song feels full even though the arrangements are minimal. Such is the power of Cesária Évora's voice, a voice that has inspired countless others to popularize Cape Verde's music.

Sodade
Angola

Morna tem o poder de me tornar pacífico, sereno, calmo. É um dos mais preciosos presentes que Cabo Verde ofereceu ao mundo. É um som suave, simples, puro, que invoca o mar, o céu azul brilhante, e a saudade que a terra tem dos seus filhos espalhados pelo mundo afora. Porque fazendo as contas há mais Cabo Verdianos nos Estados Unidos do que em Cabo Verde inteiro. E ja agora, de salientar que ninguém faz morna melhor que a rainha Cesária Évora. A sua voz encantadora dá nos o significado do que é a saudade na cançao com o mesmo nome, e a música Angola é uma bela homenagem ao nosso país, cantado naquele creole lindo dela, que inspira a outros.

- Photo by Volume12

Cesaria Evora
Cesaria Evora no Myspace

2 comments:

Hugo Carlos said...

Hi! this is a very nice blog! I always enjoy this alternative kind of music...

I also wanted to tell you that the links of the songs Sodade and Angola do not work...

Claudio Silva said...

Hola Hugo,
Thank's a lot for the observation, turns out all the songs from March no longer play! I have some fixing to do. And I'm glad you're enjoying the music here!

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