CESARIA EVORA - NHA SENTIMENTO

Cesaria Evora began her career as a singer in Mindelo on the island of São Vicente more than forty-five years ago. Aged just twenty, she was already singing of romantic disappointments and the remoteness of the Cape Verde islands, expressing a remarkable melancholy that is illustrated by recordings made at the time, reissued at the end of 2008 on Radio Mindelo. Entrenched in a saudade of universal appeal or settling quietly over her windswept islands, this Atlantic melancholy remains Cesaria Evora’s trademark. Whether she sings coladeras (catchy songs perfect for the dance floor) or mornas (Cape-Verdean blues), her voice holds an inescapable fascination for the listener.

Back in 2009 (and three years after her last album Rogamar), the Cape-Verdean singer released Nha Sentimento, an album that combines gravity and lightness of tone. This new opus is more coladera than morna. Recorded by Nando Andrade and produced by José da Silva, Nha Sentimento conveys a deep emotion that never detracts from apparently light-hearted, but often seriously-motivated songs, whose joie de vivre repeatedly proves stronger than their sorrow, regret and desire. When this is not the case, the words convey an insular resignation that is very much a part of Cesaria, since she has so clearly experienced the things she sings about - on Vento de Sueste, for instance, a morna that conjures up feelings that have never left her.

Zinha is one of the album’s liveliest tracks. It is a carefree song that suggests strong emotion, but is eminently danceable. As on most of the album’s tracks, Cesaria is backed by delicate percussion work from Tey Santos. Heir to the Cape-Verdean musical scene of the 50s and 60s, Santos learned to play with musicians of the day and they passed on their skills to him. In his playing, we detect a certain nostalgia for those golden years. He perpetuates a style that has almost vanished today, but perfectly suits Cesaria’s voice. He previously accompanied her on the Mar Azul album that brought her worldwide recognition in 1991. His terribly-subtle, but very-present style of playing is one of the record’s key ingredients. Producer and pianist Nando Andrade features it prominently, emphasising the feeling of nostalgia, while the more modern technique of his fellow percussionist Miroca Paris is only rarely apparent.

The other high point of Nha Sentimento is Ligereza, featuring accordion from Henry Ortiz recorded in Bogotá. The song works an immediate charm, like the light caress of a summer breeze. Ortiz brings a Latin touch to the Cape-Verdean melody, giving us the feeling that the piece is terribly familiar. Cesaria’s singing is closely entwined with the record’s production and the work of the musicians accompanying her. In fact, she has put more into the recording process than ever here, working in close partnership with Nando. She is at her emotional peak, recapturing all the intensity and quality of her finest years.

Although Cesaria has tended towards the catchiest of songs on this album, she has by no means turned her back on the musical style for which she became famous. The three mornas on the album - Vento de Sueste, Sentimento and Mam’Bia E So Mi - are enhanced by Egyptian string arrangements from Fathy Salama, who conducted the Cairo Orchestra. This natural partnership underlines the Arab roots claimed for morna, via Arab-Andalusian music, by musicologist Vasco Martins and writer Manuel de Novas.

Indeed, Mam’Bia E So Mi reminds us of Oum Kalsoum and Abdel Halim Afez’s most glorious moments with its bright string arrangements. Phrased by different inflections, Cesaria’s voice glows with new colours. Here, Cape-Verdean blues and greens become purples and golden-browns, and her vocal eloquence goes straight to the heart of the matter, never missing its target.

The cheerful Esperança di Mar Azul returns to familiar themes. The percussion breathes life into the piece and Régis Gizavo’s accordion adds a subtle melancholic touch. Written by Teofilo Chantre, Esperança di Mar Azul is a song full of hope, replete with consistently-lively expressiveness. “The hope of the blue sea / Bears up those who believe in their love,” she sings to sweethearts as she looks towards the Atlantic spray, wind and sun.

As ever, Cesaria bows to fate - on Fatalidade, for instance, with its bittersweet backing vocals. “Work, strive and sing / Water your life with the sweat of your joy / All fate will end / And your day will come, yes, your day…” she sings, as if it had always been her day, without ever looking back. This way of moving on with her eyes firmly on the path ahead whatever the obstacles remains one of her chief virtues, whatever the nostalgic emotion she may bring to her singing.

In the course of these fourteen songs mainly written by Teofilo Chantre and Manuel de Novas, Cesaria again celebrates her homeland, as on the eloquent Verde Cabo di Nha Odjos, a poem co-written by Luis Pastor and Teofilo Chantre. “Green Cape of my eyes / Mindelo of my glory / I want to die in your green / And live in your songs.” What could be a better epitaph for the songs on Nha Sentimento?

Before the release of this album she suffered a stroke during her Australian tour in 2008, and in 2010 she suffered a heart attack. In late September 2011, Evora's agent Lusafrica announced that she had ended her singing career due to poor health. We wish her well.