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Interview
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Global Rhythm, Interview >>
Sara Tavares sings with a charming, infectious joy. On her CD cover, she's grinning widely, and that grin seems to seep through every line and note of this record. She knows exactly what she wants, producing the album herself and playing multiple instruments (acoustic guitar and various percussion devices) on every song. The light, almost girlish tone of her voice, and her whispered backing vocals providing commentary on the main line, are reminiscent of another woman who seized control of her music, petite Mexican singer Natalia Lafourcade, who was a giggling pixie on her debut, mixing acoustic guitars with turntables and dance beats, but brought her live band into the studio and made a forceful but still giddy rock record as a followup. Tavares is similarly in charge, singing of love, of Lisbon and of spirituality as motivating force and an artistic inspiration. A strong, subtle disc; highly recommended.
Q&A WITH SARA TAVARES
Interviewer: How many languages do you speak, and which ones do you write in?
Tavares: I'm able to communicate clearly in Portuguese, Cape Verdean crolo and in English. I dream in all three languages, and I write songs in all three, too.
Interviewer: You pretty much masterminded this whole album. Did you know what you wanted going in, or was there experimentation in the studio?
Tavares: I knew what I wanted to hear, and especially what I didn't want to hear. But you can't escape the magic of recording session, and not experiment with moods and musicians' particularities, so some things just revealed themselves while recording.
Interviewer: Do you consider yourself traditionalist, or someone who's moving her music forward?
Tavares: I'm definitely not a traditionalist, as I didn't grow up in a traditional environment, but I do value the history and culture of my people. I know where we have come from, while moving forward. So I guess my music is most of all expressing my present everyday life experience, and thafs the life of a young Afro-European woman, dealing with surviving and spiritual learning.
by Phil Freeman
06/01/06
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