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CD Review
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Beat (The), CD Review >>
I'm glad I started with the dvd portion of the dvd-cd set Di Korpu Ku Alma (Escondida) by Cape Verdean vocalist Lura, because the visuals reveal intensity to the music that is harder to locate on the studio disc. A good case in point occurs when Lura performs "Raboita di Rubon Manel" a paean to a homegrown anti-colonial hero. Lura sits in a chair to belt out the song while whomping on a small tchabeta cushion resembling a cross between a leather purse and a bean-bag that she's placed on her lap. Her facial expressions and the silent percussion on the video lend a sense of urgency that's absent from the candy-coated studio version on the accompanying disc.
That's not to short-shrift Lura's gifts as a convincing singer. A single hearing of "To Martins" will make the strong melody -- and smooth arrangement by keyboardist Fernando "Nando" Andrade -- feel like an instant friend. Some of the distance that lies between Lura and legendary Cape Verdean diva Cesaria Evora is due to the difference between Evoni's mastery of the deeply melancholy morna style and Lura's concentration on the brighler batuku and funana genres. Thus we get the fast-paced "Bauiku" with its faux rap break and "Vazulina," whose liquid electric guitar lines may remind you of Cameroonian bikutsi. But syrupy romantic ditty "Padoce De Ceu Azul" demonstrates that Lura leans toward confectionary European pop. That's not necessarily a bad thing, since she's wise to go with her strengths. But check out the morna-flavored "Tem Um Horn Pa Tude," then imagine the strength that Evora would wield here compare to Lura's slightly bittersweet puff.
-Bob Tarte 07/01/05
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