Cesaria Evora Returns to North America for a June/July 2007 Tour

Cesaria Evora
Cesaria Evora

Cesaria Evora will return to the United states and Canada in June and July 2007. Her North American tour will include music from her most recent recording, Rogamar (Sony BMG/RCA Victor).
 
 It’s been an unexpected road for Cesaria. In the early days, she rode a wave of tastemaker popularity, finding audiences that included musicians David Byrne, Bonnie Raitt, and TV reporter Ed Bradley. Cesaria was set to perform at Madonna’s 1997 birthday party at Versace’s private estate. But the fashion designer’s murder put an end to that. Madonna tried again with her 2000 wedding at a castle in Scotland, but when Cesaria found out Madonna only wanted the Cape Verdean singer accompanied by piano, not her full band, the elder singer cancelled.

Regardless, over the years a wide American and Canadian fan base grew from consistent touring, each year in successively larger venues, several CD releases, and her star-studded audiences. Like many people, Cesaria envisioned that if she would become successful, she would buy herself a Mercedes. After first proudly being able to buy her own house (she still lives in Cape Verde), she finally was able to secure the car of her choice. She soon found out how difficult it is to get Mercedes parts in Cape Verde, and as a result, many a band member has departed from a worldwide tour trying to figure out how to pack a muffler or other car part into their bags. To top things off, Cape Verde’s rough roads are not the best terrain for a Mercedes. On stage, fans still find the singer in modest form, yet with a singular voice that calls to mind a previous era.
 
 “This flower that wilts, this child that cries, this cloud that passes, it’s nostalgia, it’s sadness… The world changes, but my story continues.” Cesaria sings these words by Teofilo Chantre and Vitorino Chantre on their song “Um Pincelada” featured on Rogamar.
 
 Cesaria shows extraordinary good taste in choosing songwriters. In the port of Mindelo on the island of São Vicente, they might say she has a kind of inbuilt radar that allows her to detect hazards and steer clear of treacherous reefs, enabling her to rely on the best. Manuel de Novas, ex-harbor pilot, and Teofilo Chantre, the musician from Paris, are inextricably bound to the emotional lace of their native land’s saudade, Portuguese blues. Cesaria also turns to younger talents. “They’re born and grow. I’m the only one getting old,” she jokingly remarks. Two of these new songwriters are on Rogamar, gifted lads from Mindelo named Constantino Cardoso and Jon Luz. Morna and coladera are not about to be sucked down into the globalization of sound.
 
Rogamar comes from rogar, to pray, and mar, the sea, the ever-present sea. ”The people of the islands/Are a seagoing people/But only for long voyages,” writes Teofilo Chantre over a Saint John’s Day beat. The journey through the “channel” between São Vicente Island and Sant’Anton opposite is quite an ordeal. When the waves rise, “Rogà, rogà Virgem Maria/Pegà, pegà Santa Barba;” on the little boat, they pray to the Virgin Mary and ask Santa Barba to hold on. Cesaria loves to gaze at the sea. She’s very clear: she cannot live without it. But as for going in: never! She’s afraid of it, she says, just as she says she has loved, suffered and been exploited by the colonial system and jealous producers, yet managed to laugh and joke about it. “And God never sleeps, he writes in a straight line, even injustices,” Cesaria adds, with a meaningful look.
 
 North American tour:
 
 06/08/2007, Fri
 Los Angeles, CA
 Orpheum Theater
 
 06/09/2007, Sat
 San Francisco, CA
 San Francisco Jazz Festival
 
 06/10/2007, Sun
 Saratoga, CA
 Mountain Winery
 
 06/11/2007, Mon
 Victoria, BC
 Royal Theatre
 
 06/12/2007, Tue
 Vancouver, BC
 Vancouver Intl. Jazz Festival
 
 06/15/2007, Fri
 Edmonton, Alberta
 Winspear Centre For Music
 
 06/16/2007, Sat
 Milwaukee, Wisconsin
 The Pabst Theater
 
 06/17/2007, Sun
 Highland Park, IL
 Ravinia Festival
 
 06/19/2007, Tue
 Ann Arbor, MI
 Ann Arbor Summer Festival
 
 06/22/2007, Fri
 Vienna, VA
 Filene Center at Wolftrap
 
 06/23/2007, Sat
 Boston, MA
 Berklee Performance Center/World Music, Inc.
 
 06/24/2007, Sun
 Northampton, MA
 Calvin Theatre
 
 06/26/2007, Tue
 New York, NY
 Carnegie Hall
 
 06/27/2007, Wed
 Albany, NY
 Hart Theatre at The Egg
 
 06/28/2007, Thu
 Toronto, ON
 Roy Thomson Hall
 
 06/30/2007, Sat
 Ottawa, Ontario
 Ottawa International Jazz Fest
 
 07/02/2007, Mon
 Montreal, Quebec
 Festival International de Jazz de Montréal
 

Author: World Music Central News Room

World music news from the editors at World Music Central
Share