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Sample Track 1:
"Balancê" from Balancê (Times Square Records)
Sample Track 2:
"Planeta Sukri (Featuring Boy Gê Mendes)" from Balancê (Times Square Records)
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Balancê (Times Square Records)
Layer 2
Feature

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Sara Tavares is a beautiful woman with a beautiful voice on an album that breathes exotic Cape Verdean rhapsody. Hearing her, you get that first thrill as that voice of that unforgettable ¡°Girl from Ipanema,¡± made famous by the late Stan Getz. The Afro/Portuguese/Latin influence is deeply felt with the rich, distinctive voice of Ms. Tavares- spirited, touching, playful, as the music's mood demands. In short, you would be unlikely to hear a more overtly romantic voice than the one you hear here on the first track, ¡°Balanc¨¦.¡± According to Ms. Tavares, ¡°The whole album is like little lullabies to myself. All the messages are about self-esteem, loving yourself. About liking what is different about you. About integrating all the parts of you.¡± On Balanc¨¦, Ms. Tavares finds the voice of a new generation of Africans in Lisbon trying to find what we all want to celebrate life - that special sanctuary we call 'home.'
Ms. Tavares' sweet voice communicate this meaning even if you cannot understand all of the lyrics. Her voice has a healing power which comes from someone who has struggled with her place in the world and then accepted herself fully. This is the voice of a woman whose parents left her. In the ever-so Cape Verdean search for a better life, her father left for America; her mother moved south. Ms. Tavares was raised by an older Portuguese woman. Through music, she sought out her family and cultural roots, along with help of veteran African musicians in Lisbon and back in Cape Verde where she travels every year. To be born again is what Ms. Tavares expresses with her music. ¡°I want to be a part a movement like the African-Americans were, like the African Brazilians were,¡± Ms. Tavares says. ¡°Instead of doing the music of their ancestors, they have created this musical identity of their own.¡± Other highlights include, ¡°Dam Bo,¡± ¡°Planeta,¡± a duet featuring Boy G¨¦ Mendes, ¡°Mona Xeia,¡± and ¡°De Nua,¡± a duet featuring Ana Moura. ¡ö

All CDs revieved in this article are heard through Bowers & Wilkins 802D speakers and ASW 4000 subwoofer, and Rotel Preamp 1070, amplifier 1092 and CD player 1072.

 06/01/06
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