More music from the vestiges of Portuguese colonialism
But Cabo Verde (Cape Verde) this time
I saw Lucibela at the Promontory on 53rd in Hyde Park (big ups to Mario and the other musical directors/bookers there; the restaurant sucks but their lineup of shows is always hitting)
She’s from the Cape Verdian island of Sao Nicolau — you know, the same Sao Nicolau that Cesaria Evora sings about in “Sodade” –probably her most famous song
(Come to think of it does everybody already know Cesaria Evora? If not, we need a big dose of her for sure)
Lucibela’s mom died when she was in high school, so she began singing at hotel bars in Mindelo
The tourists at the hotels wanted to hear morna, the famous mournful ballads of Cabo Verde, so that became the nucleus of her repertoire
She earned a bit of money, and a bit of a name, and moved on to Praia, the capital
After being “discovered” at a big music festival, she moved to the metropole, and in Lisbon recorded her first album, titled “Laco Umbilical” – umbilical cord
It has mornas, but also coladera (the more uptempo dance music popular in Cabo Verde), with plenty of Brazilian and west african styles thrown in the mix, too
Gotta figure the tile of the album harkens to her late mother, her homeland, and sodade (saudade)
The album is produced by Toy Vieira, who worked extensively with the late great Evora (the “barefoot diva”); he’s also on guitar on almost all the cuts
Obviously, comparisons to Cize are inevitable
But she’s pretty damn great in her own right
This is my favorite off the album, recorded with an impossibly warm tone
I guess it could sound overproduced, but the sparse arrangments keep it in check, and thus still approximate an intimate live setting
Like a hotel bar, or the Promontory
But with ideal acoustics
