Kavita Shah – Cape Verdean Blues (2023)
Award-winning vocalist, composer, and educator Kavita Shah has just released her album, Cape Verdean Blues, through the new world music label Folkalist Records. The album is a result of her diasporic journey to find a spiritual home and pays tribute to the Cape Verdean vocalist Cesária Évora and the captivating archipelago she represented. Shah, the daughter of immigrants, conducted extensive ethnomusicological research on the island of São Vicente, inspiring the creation of this album.
At the core of the 12-song album is the concept of “sodade” (Cape Verdean Creole) which symbolizes a melancholic sense of transience present in Cape Verdean culture. Shah’s multicultural background, fluency in nine languages (including Portuguese and Cape Verdean Kriol), and collaboration with Évora’s bandmates allowed her to craft a superb world music album that feels like home.
Cape Verdean Blues features traditional Cape Verdean mornas and coladeiras, as well as Shah’s original compositions. It presents her pristine and expressive vocals infused with jazz influences, incorporating vocal improvisations and lush textures. The musical arrangements are equally exquisite, providing a delightful and autherntic Cape Verdean flavor. Notably, the album honors the legacy of Cesária Évora, known as the “Queen of the Morna,” and explores themes of loss and personal growth.
Through her musical journey, Shah has found comfort and solidarity in Cape Verdean music and hopes her album will offer the same feeling to listeners, just as she experienced when she first heard Cesária’s voice. “What struck me about her was that she was wholly herself. She was barefoot, smoking, drinking, she wasn’t overly smiling or entertaining; she was just delivering the songs,” Shah recalls. “As a person of color, to see a black woman whose main power was her authenticity was transformative. She changed my life.”
“In this paradise in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, I found a sense of home that has eluded me for much of my 37 years,” Shah says. “When I look back, I realize that upon hearing Cesária’s voice nearly a decade ago, she was summoning me down a path I must continue walking in search of sodade.”
Shah’s previous projects include Visions (2014), co-produced by Lionel Loueke; Folk Songs of Naboréa, which premiered at the Park Avenue Armory in 2017; and Interplay in duo with François Moutin, which was nominated in 2018 for France’s Victoires de la Musique for Jazz Album of the Year.
Shah eventually made her way to Cape Verde in 2016, following Cesária’s passing, and this journey turned out to be filled with delightful and unexpected occurrences. By a twist of fate, she crossed paths with Cesária’s musical director and guitarist, Bau, and their connection was immediate. Their informal jam sessions evolved into captivating live performances.
In 2018, Shah received a grant from the Jerome Foundation to formally study the music and culture of Cape Verde, prompting her to return to the island. During this period, she deepened her friendship with Cape Verde’s renowned classical composer, Vasco Martins, known for creating the beautiful compositions “Um Porta Aberte” and “Situações Triangulares.”
Out of Shah and Bau’s casual studio sessions, which were initially meant to document their repertoire, emerged the organic creation of the Cape Verdean Blues album. It features contributions from members of Cesária’s band, including acclaimed percussionist Miroca Paris, and the talented vocalist Fantcha, who had been mentored by Cesária. The album was recorded in Mindelo, Lisbon, and New York, and it includes traditional Cape Verdean Kriol songs; a newly written original with lyrics by the legendary Morgadinho; a Brazilian classic; and even an Indian folk song in Gujarati, Shah’s native language.
Shah devotedly studied the unique phrasing of the repertoire, while also infusing each song with her own fresh and distinctive style. As a trained jazz singer, she elegantly expands the tracks with sensual vocal improvisations, weaving in various vocal textures and mouth percussion to create enchanting songs, often with minimal orchestration.
Musicians: Kavita Shah on vocals, vocal percussion; Bau on guitars, cavaquinho, ukelele; Miroca Paris on hand and vocal percussion; Fantcha on vocals; Maalem Hassan Benjaafar on guembri, karkabas, vocals; Zé Paris on bass; Alune Wade on bass; and Fernando Saci, Rogerio Boccato on percussion.
Buy Cape Verdean Blues.
Author: Douglas Sanders
