Similar in scope and tone to Putumayo's Brasileiro collection, Cape Verde presents the music of the islands just 300 miles off West Africa's Senegalese coast. Drawing from Portuguese and African influences, the music of Cape Verde is most often rooted in a sensually languid and rhythmically complex cousin of the blues called morna. Largely popularized on the international scene by the meteoric popularity of Cesaria Evora (who contributes here with "Cabo Verde Manda Mantenha"), Cape Verdean music has enjoyed a wider listenership. This collection, however, cleverly balances the alluring minor key of morna with the lesser-known merry festivity of coladeira, the Cape's party music, and a jazz-tinged dance music called funana. Mysteriously bewitching, Cape Verde is a gorgeous melange of elegant piano, acoustic strings, rousing horn sections, propulsive drumming, flamboyant keyboards, and superb vocalists. --Paige La Grone

In the USA

This 19-song compilation features a wide variety of artists from this small but influential island off the Senegalese coast. Opening with Cesaria Evora and an early tune, "Papa Joachim Paris," the album visits luminaries like Simentera, Paulino Vieira, and Tito Paris and introduces you to many less famous but deserving names. Real roots come from the Mindel Band with a raw violin and a perpetual groove. Luis Morais's band is jazzy and fun. Voz de Cabo Verde are sweet and homey. The album closes with a live, lush, yet ragged "Lundum" by Vieira and Celina Pereira, a perfect island tune of slight melody and lots of feeling. --Louis Gibson

In the USA

In the USA

In the USA

The Little Island of Cape Verde, the Country of Cesaria Evora is the Home of Many Gifted Artists. Discover their Best Songs in this Beautiful 16 Tracks Compilation. features C. evora, Tito Paris, Boy Ge Mendes, Celina Pereira

In the USA

In the USA

In the USA

Cape Verde has attained a fame far beyond what its small geographic stature would seem to justify, in great measure due to the work of morna diva Cesaria Evora. This small group of islands was uninhabited until Portugal settled it with its unwanted poor, its opportunistic pirates, clever business people, and slaves brought from the nearby African coast. Thus the archipelago has a unique, almost artificial culture. It's a true example of how people create culture as much as they are created by it.

This two-CD set is broken into two regional collections. Sotavento ("leeward") covers the islands of Fogo, Santiago, Maio, and Brava, where the majority of blacks still live. It features social satire called tabanka, women's social music (batuque), the accordion-driven funana, and work and play songs. Barlavento ("windward") shows the more diverse European elements (not exclusively Portuguese) that mixed with the African to create the roots of the most famous of Cape Verde's musical traditions, the morna of Boa Vista island. Also featured are wedding and festival music, and more formal styles that work with European instruments such as the violin.

Much of this music has been covered in individual discs on the Ocora label, but this collection is one of the best overviews of the region available, with good notes, marvelous pictures, and well-recorded, outstanding performances. --Louis Gibson

In the USA