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Feature
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The African, Feature >>
(p. 15)
When Cape Verde's Lura stepped into New York City for a promotional tour of her new album, the sultry singer took her audience down an exotic dance filled evening of Cape Verdean tradition. She brought the house down at SOBs and did the same at globalFEST held at Joe's Pub.
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(p. 30-31)
The African Q&A
By CYNTHIA NAKPODIA-RIBEIRO
Love letters to home
Singer Lura Talks About Rhythm, Dance, and Her Adoration of Cape Verdean Culture
On the Western African coastline just west of Senegal lies an archipelago of ten islands collectively known as Cape Verde. Once colonized by the Portuguese, Cape Verde offers a rich blend of exotic tropical paradise with its captivating landscapes, endless white sand beaches and an enchanting turquoise sea.
Aside from its vibrant scenery, the people of Cape Verde are an exotic mix of African, Brazillian and Portugese. Their musical traditions reflect the cultural fusion of Samba, Salsa, Fado and African roots.
The island was made famous by musical giant, Cesaria Evora, also known as the Barefoot Diva, (The AFRican, December 2002). Now emerges 30 year-old Lura to follow in those big footsteps.
Her music celebrates and honors traditions from Santiago, the most African of Cape Verde islands.
Performing a musical cross between her Cape Verdean heritage and Portuguese influences, Lura's urban sensuality brings an alluring twist to the ancestral rhythms of Batuku and Funana.
Traditionally performed by groups of women and once banned by Portuguese colonial government for its sexually suggestuve nature, Batukaderas are now experiencing a revival and thanks to Lura, international recognition.
The AFRican caught up with Lura live at the recent Globalfest in New York City and subsequent shows in town.
At her performances it was clear to see that Lura had an original way of charming and capturing her audience. Part playful, part quirky Lura mesmerized the audience with her dancing and with her Batuku playing, releasing an overhead mist of sexual energy into the air. A smooth and rich vocalist, she serenaded the audience with seductive songs, going from soft to sultry to heated passion all in one txabeta stroke.
While promoting her new album Di Korpu Ku Alma, Lura stopped to chat with The AFRican's Cynthia Nakpodia-Ribeiro.
The AFRican: "Tell us a little about your background?"
LURA: "I was born in Lisbon (Portugal). My parents immigranted to Lisbon from Cape Verde and I was born there and grew up there. I spoke portuguese when I was a child. Later I knew a lot of Cape Verdean friends from school. It was there I learnt Creole and later, when I was 21, I went to Cape Verde for the first time. In Portugal thee is a big Cape Verdean community. I learnt a lot of things about Cape Verde there in Portugal."
The AFRican: "Were your parents musicians? Where did you ddevelop your love for music?"
LURA: I used to hang out with dancers, and one of the dancers was recording an album and invited me to participate on that album. We did a duet - It was a singer from Sao Tome called Juka. It was a song with a lot of success. After that, I did a lot of work in background vocals, duets and worked singiong in the bars. And the music began to become big for me and important for me. It was also a big discovery for me because I was like - wow! I can sing."
The AFRican: What were your first impressions of Cape Verde?
LURA: When I discovered Cape Verde, I fell in love with everything about Cape Verde. My parents during my childgood, told me beautiful stories aout Cape Verde and for me Cape Verde is something special. When I went to Cape Verde I could identity with everything. I thought about my reality and I discovered the people, the richness of the country, everything for me was a new and beautiful. This (is) a wonderful feeling because this is my oroigin ....this is where I come from.
The AFRican: How did you get into the Cape Verdean thythms?
LURA: "I had already started my singer career in Portugal saround age 19. At the same time3 I knew about various musicians and singers from Cape Verde, because there were a lot in Portgal. I knew a little about everyone because my parents listened to Cape Verde music at home. But for me it was not interesting as a child. When I grew I begin to pay more attention.
The AFRican: "At GlobalFest you sang about revolutionary women and played an unusual instrument. What is that instrument and is there a relevance to the song?"
LURA: The instrument is called the txabeta, that instrument is used to play Batuku. Txabeta is the name of the instrument and is also the name of the rhythm." (She demonstrates by drumming on her thighs) Batuku is a style from slavery - the (colonial) govenment in Cape Verde did not want the slaves to play tambors or djembes. They did not want the noise. So nobody was allowed to play percussuion there. For slaves, percussion was prohibited.
Then they started to play on their laps. But when you play a lot on the laps, it starts to hurt. So they created the txabeta. It's very easy to create, it's a very simply instrument because it's made out of cloth and is nestled firmly between the thighs. It creates a special sound. Traditionally and normally the batuku is played by batukareas-fourteen women and they play all together creating a very rhythmically unique and strong sound. It is very nice and also powerful."
The AFRican: "How well are you received in Cape Verde?"
LURA: My first album called Nha Vida was very successful in Cape Verde. People were very surprised by me. Everyone from Cape Verde who heard the album like my songs. They knew that I didn't live in Cape Verde, (yet) I was singing in Creole and they were surprised. It was very successful in Cape Verde and in all the communities where you find a lot of Cape Verdeans.
The AFRican: "Which African artist do you admire?"
LURA: "I like Angelique Kidjo, Daby Toure, Julua Sarr, Miriam Makeba and Youssou N'dour. They taught me to appreciate my own culture."
The AFRican: "Which artist would you like to collaborate with in the future?"
LURA: "I can't name one person in particular, but for me collaboration between artist is very important. Oh my God, I can't mention any names right now because I think it's inappropriate. I would like to collaborate with a lot of people.
The AFRican: "Your album Nha Vida can be translated as "My Life." What does Di Korpu Ku Alma translate as?"
LURA: "Nha Vida talks about me and my personal experiences. In Di Korpu Ku Alma I talk about Cape Verdean people and their stories. Symbolic things like in the song So Um Cartinha, I talk about letters. Letters in Cape Verde are very symbolic. ...very important because for a lot of years, letters were the only way to keep contact between the family members. I like to talk about Cape Verde because it's a discovery for me and I am happy to be Cape Verdean, to have a very beautiful county and beautiful people.
The AFRican: "You are a good dancer. Where did you learn to dance?"
LURA: It's a mix, my dance style doesn't have a name. I like to dance and I never learnt classic formation. I never danced in a professional grup. I just dance! I like to dance! Maybe because I am African and all Africans have a swing and motion. I think, I am sure that if I wasn't a singer, I would be a dancer."
The AFRican: "Your percussionist, where is he from?"
LURA: "He is from Santiago Island. His name is Jahid Jevenswpena"
The AFRican: "Are the other band member from different parts of the world?"
LURA: "No, they are all from different parts of Cape Verde. They are all Cape Verdean. It's important rhythmically, because all of them know different rhythms from different parts of the island in Cape Verde." 06/01/06
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