One of the prominent world music “discoveries” in the last two years has been the seasoned Cape Verde vocalist Cesaria Evora, and rightfully so: with her rich, wise-toned delivery in the morna genre, an indigenous variation on the blues, Evora conveys qualities of exquisite melancholy and emotional resiliency that easily translate across cultures. Her new album, Cabo Verde (Nonesuch; 50:13) is more of the same moving music heard on her 1995 debut. This time out, we hear a cameo by saxophonist James Carter, but the music is mostly rooted in the traditional musical values of the small West African island of Evora’s heritage.
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