Cafe Atlantico

Performer: Cesaria Evora
Engineer: Joao Magalhaes; Pascal Catet
Producer: Jose Da Silva
Distributor: BMG (distributor)

Notes: Personnel: Cesaria Evora (vocals); Totinho (vocals, soprano & tenor saxophones, percussion); Bau (6- & 12-string guitars, cavaquinho); Luis Ramos (slide guitar, background vocals); Jacinto Pereira (cavaquinho, background vocals); Jacky Fourniret (accordion); Nando Andrade (piano, background vocals); Jose Paris (acoustic bass, background vocals); Calu (drums, background vocals); Silvano Michelino (bongos, pandero); Tey Santos (percussion); Valerie Belinga, Valerie Tribord, Toy Viera, Teofilo Chantre, Fred, Armandine, Manuna, NAdine, John Nobre, Nedelise, Yolanda, Stephanie (background vocals). CAFE ATLANTICO was nominated for the 2000 Grammy Award for Best World Music Album. After nearly a decade of shuffling around barefoot from one festival stage to another, the Queen of Cape Verde finally went global. West Africa has long looked to Havana for inspiration, and this is a truly transatlantic brew. Smooth and milky at first taste, CAFE ATLANTICO has just enough bitterness to remind us that Evora's roots lie in songs of yearning, loss, and hardship. There's a good variety of styles and influences here: a son straight out of Havana ("Beijo de Longe") and an Angolan forro ("Terezinha") are brave steps away from the plangent guitars and seductive melodies that have characterised her albums to date. And there are more than a few salient reminders too of the morna style that she has made her own, notably in "Vaquinha Mansa" and the stylish "Amor di Mundo." The instrumental arrangements come courtesy of Jacques Morelenbaum and are as crafted as you'd expect. This is an album that would make a palm tree bend at the knees and long for summer. Why wait? Kick off your shoes and shuffle.

Rolling Stone (8/5/99, p.67) - 3 1/2 stars (out of 5) - "...[ushers] Evora into atypically bright moods....[She] really only sings two ways: well or magnificiently." Q (7/99, pp.110-2) - 4 stars (out of 5) - "...a lilting, mellow collection, ranging from the languorous...to the lighthearted....the crisp arrangements combined with her dry delivery ensure a lack of sentimentality." CMJ (1/10/00, p.25) - Included in CMJ's "New World '99 Top 5" - "...a beautiful, finely wrought album that shows exactly why she's so popular..." Mojo (Publisher) (1/00, p.31) - Ranked #16 in Mojo Magazine's "Best of 1999."

Cape Verdean songstress Cesaria Evora is a bit of a musical late bloomer; she released her first album of morna music (a combination of West African and Brazilian styles) in 1992 at age 47 and, four years later, became an international sensation. Her vocals have drawn comparisons to Edith Piaf and Billie Holiday, while her down-to-earth "Barefoot Diva" personality has won her respect the world over. From 1995 to 2003, Evora recorded numerous albums, including the acclaimed CAF� ATLANTICO and SAO VICENTE, and she shows no signs of slowing down.

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