This programme featuring the Lisbon-based, Cape Verde-styled singer Sara Tavares is the first of a series of occasional programmes revisiting sessions recorded for and first broadcast on World on 3. Apologies to those who listen to both programmes and have heard it already, but this is for the benefit of the millions of World Service listeners unaware of the Radio 3 show. In any case, I believe it holds up to repeated listens.

Having written a bulletin for the original show in May, there’s nothing to add so here it is again.

When Cesaria Evora burst into international recognition back in 1988, many of us were unaware that there was a distinctive sound of the Cape Verde islands. Since then, we have learned to distinguish the difference between singers form Cape Verde and those from Portugal or Brazil, although I admit that when I first heard ‘Balancé’ by Sara Tavares, I did assume she was Brazilian. Her voice is so light and her melodies so free, she never for a moment suggests the sombre moods of fado or even the darker tones of Cesaria herself.

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.

Sara was actually born in Lisbon, 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.

When I first met Sara, 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.

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