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Lura Coming to Buckman
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Shelby Sun Times, Lura Coming to Buckman >>
Recognized as one of the best world artists of 2005, Lura has charmed her way across the globe, seducing audiences with her alluring, earthy voice, upbeat rhythms and barefoot dancing. Born in Lisbon and residing in Cape Verde, she fuses her homeland's musical traditions with French, Afro-pop and Brazilian sounds. Her electrifying performances are highlighted with her batuku rhythm solos, a percussive pulse derived from beating stacks of folded laundry, and the funana melodies and movement of Santiago. With the support of a Greater Memphis Arts Council Arts Builds Community grant, Lura will also make a visit to Stax Music Academy to offer a lecture and demonstration for the music students of the charter school.
Lura appears December 3 and 4 at 7 p.m. at Buckman Performing and Fine Arts Center at St. Mary's Episcopal School, 60 Perkins Extended. Tickets are S25 for adults, $22 for seniors and students.
Born in 1975 in Lisbon, Lura is a first generation descendant of the Cape Verdean migration that took place in the immediate aftermath of the Portuguese revolution. At the age of 7, Lura was a dancer in Lisbon when she was approached by Juka, an African zouk musician from Sao Tome and Principe, and invited to appear on his album. Originally asked to sing backup vocals, she instead performed a duet and discovered her voice. She burst onto the scene in 1996 when she performed with the Brazilian superstar Caetano Veloso. Lura went on to sing with a number of the PALOP (Portuguese speaking) world's most celebrated performers, including Cesaria Evora, Bonga, Tito Paris, Paulino Vieira and Paulo Flores.
It was only a matter of time before such a stunning new voice had its own platform. She recorded her first solo CD Nha Vida, which also showcased her song writing talents, in 1996. Her first release paved the way for the 1997 compilation Red Hot in Lisbon, alongside artists such as David Byrne, Djavan, Marisa Monte and Airto Lindsay. In 2002, she wrote and recorded her second album In Love, featuring contributions from Bob Marley's son, Kimany, which fused R and B and reggae with Cape Verdean styles. Lura calls her latest disc, Di Korpu Ku Alma, a journey to the roots of her music. Sensual and sexy, it is rooted in such styles as batuku and funana.
The first European colonial settlement in Africa, Cape Verde's music reflects the mix of its Portuguese and West African roots. The populations of each of its ten islands are distinct with their own personality and dialect. Cesaria Evora- from the island of Sao Vicente-is known for European-inflected momas and the faster-paced coladeras. Lura is part of a new generation of musicians rediscovering the hidden traditions of her ancestral homeland. Her music is inspired by the styles of Santiago-the most African of the islands, and the island from which her father came.
The African musical traditions of Cape Verde are only now emerging in this young nation, which gained independence in 1975. Prior to that the Church and colonial government prohibited certain music including funana, one of Lura's signature styles, as it was considered too erotic. Batuku rhythm was originally women's percussion music. A dozen or more women would beat the on folded stacks of clothes (called tchabeta) held by their knees, while a lead singer improvised poetry lampooning or critiquing community happenings. A very sensual dance called lomo accompanied the song form. 'The women in Cape Verde spend a lot of time together, working and talking and that is how batuku started; from the women of Santiago," Lura says. "Now I and others are making a kind of batuku, but singing alone, not in a group. I'm a little representation of batuku from Cape Verde."
Lura's songs reflect the concerns of this secluded nation. "In the poems and lyrics of Cape Verde, we speak a lot about immigration," explains Lura. "A lot of people move away to make a better living. We talk a lot about rain because there is so little rain. And we talk about food, because sometimes it is very difficult to get food. A lot of things you have to buy from outside; from Portugal, the U.S., Holland. And we talk about the relationship between parents and their children, because so many families are far apart. But the words talk about immigration in a symbolic way." Lura makes her Memphis debut with two evening performances at the Buckman Performing and Fine Arts Center at St. Mary's Episcopal School at 7 p.m. on December 3 and 4 and an educational outreach performance at Stax Music Academy. Tickets are $25 each with student and senior dis counts available. Call (901) 537-1483 for more information.
11/02/06
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