
Sara Tavares is one of three outstanding young female Cape Verde singers to follow in the footsteps of Cesaria. I wondered if Sara knew the other two, Mayra Andrade and Lura, and what kind of relationship they have. She said they do run across each other at festivals where they compare notes about their difficulties and progress. There was no sense that they feel in competition with each other; they are musical sisters following parallel paths.
As it happened, Cesaria’s name never came up in this conversation. Instead, Sara introduced several male singers and musicians who are not yet well-known outside the islands, including Boygé Mendes who plays on Sara’s own new album, Xinti.
Sara was actually born in Lisbon (to Cape Verdean parents), and for several years followed the typical career path of a local pop singer, winning a TV competition as an impersonator of Whitney Houston and going on to represent Portugal in Eurovision. Signed to BMG, she made an album with the French-based Congolese producer Lokua Kanza which I set aside at the time as yet another uninteresting album that showed little sign of any African qualities. But in this game where we alternate records I took the chance to play a track from the album Lokua made with Cameroon bass player Richard Bona and French Antilles guitarist Toto Guillaume. As soon as ‘Lisanga’ started, Sara commented that this song is used as the cell phone ring tone by the immediately preceding artist, Boygé Mendes. Such coincidences are indescribably satisfying.
When I had met Sara before, at the time of the release of Balancé, I was so bowled over by her effervescent charm, I did not take in what an outstanding guitarist she is. This time, I concentrated on her playing and was fascinated by her unorthodox chord shapes. Musicians are often described as ‘self-taught’, but I have not previously appreciated that this can imply that they each work out their own unique ways to place their fingers on the strings, as Sara does.
Incidentally, this programme started with tracks from the two albums that were cut out of the previous programme due to an over-run of a live concert on Radio 3. I have complained bitterly to the management at Radio 3 that such cuts are extremely painful and dispiriting for the team that spends so much time and care in choosing what to include, and have been assured that efforts are being made to try to avoid repetitions of live concert over-runs in future.
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By extraordinary chance, I will meet one of the other female musical ambassadors of Cape Verde music in July, when Lura will come to sing and play radio ping pong. Next week, May 22, my guest is the enigmatic Canadian singer, Lhasa. Just in case you were wondering, or even feeling envious, I do appreciate how fortunate I am.
World on 3 is broadcast every Friday night at 11.15 pm (23.15) on BBC Radio 3, and is online for the next seven days at www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/worldon3
Seq - Artist - Song Title - Album - Country - Label - Cat no
1 - Staff Benda Bilili - Moziki - Trés Trés Fort - Congo - Crammed Discs - CRAW 51
2 - Wilmoth Houdini - Poor but Ambitious - Poor But Ambitious - Trinidad - Arhoolie - CD 67010
3 - 17 Hippies - Adieu - El Dorado - Germany - Hipster - HIP 013
4 - Oi Va Voi - Waiting - Travelling the Face of the Globe - UK - Oi Va Voi - Oi Va Voi CD 2
5 - Sara Tavares - Voice of the Winds - in session - Cape Verde - -
6 - Boygé Mendez - So Doce, So mel - Noite de Morabeza - - Lusafrica - 362122
7 - Gerald Toto; Richard Bona; Lokua Konza
" - Lisanga - Toto Bona Lokua - French Antilles, Cameroon, Congo - Universal Music/No Format Records - SSL 3030
8 - Princezito - Pilonkan (Fisherman of poems) - Spiga - Cape Verde - Harmonia Lda - 23952
9 - Sara Tavares - Barquinho Da esperanza - in session - - -
10 - Chiwoniso - Matsotsi - Rebel Woman - US/Zimbabwe - Cumbancha - CMB-CD-8
11 - Sara Tavares (Ft. Boyge) - De Alma - Xinti - Cape Verde - World Connection - WCD34
12 - Garifuna Women's Project - Merua - Ulmalali - Belize - Cumbancha - CMB-CD-6
13 - Júlio Pereira - Boyzinho - Rituais - Cape Verde - MUM Records - MUM 026CD
14 - Moondog - Sextet (Oo) - More moondog - US - Honest Jons records - HJRCDDJ106
15 - Toumani Diabate - Elyne Road - Mande variations - Mali - World Circuit - WCD079
16 - Sara Tavares - Penestrada - in session - Cape Verde - -
17 - Bonga - N'genda - Bairro - Angola - Lusafrica - 56y25 562212
18 - Sara Tavares - Ponto de Luz - in session - Cape Verde - -
19 - Lhasa - Fool's Gold - Lhasa - - Warner - 2564690483
20 - Dead Combo - Electrica Cadente - Dead Combo Vol. 1 - - Transformadorres - 510035
21 - John Lee Hooker & Miles Davis - Murder - The Hot Spot - USA - Antilles - AN 8755