Cesária Évora "The Magic of Cesária Évora" (2011)

The Magic of Cesária Évora (unofficial) (compilation)
release date: Dec. 2011
format: digital
[album rate: 4 / 5]

producer: various

label: Chinese Dragon Music - Cape Verde

An unofficial [bootleg] best of compilation album with Cesária Évora of Cape Verde, Africa issued on the bootleg label Chinese Dragon. The album was probably released shortly after her death (Dec. 17, 2011).

It contains 18 tracks and has an extensive running time for 1 disc albums at just above 77 mins.

This is a very fine collection of the wonderful Évora. I only have two original studio albums with her, and two best of compilations, and the compilation albums does what they do so fine: they introduce and showcase more of her repertoire. Only, I prefer original studio albums.

Cesária Évora "Radio Mindelo (Early Recordings)" (2008)

Radio Mindelo (Early Recordings) (compilation)
release date: Dec. 5, 2008
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]
producer: various
label: Lusafrica - nationality: Cape Verde

Compilation album with the subtitle "Early Recordings" by Cesária Évora with music from six early recording sessions. This is just one of dozens of beautiful compilations with music by with Évora. I don't know anything about the selected songs but it's a fine collection of the Cape Verdian morna and coladeira she's so famous for. Some of the recordings seem like live recordings and poorly mixed early takes but nonetheless, the music lives extremely vitally.

Cesária Évora "Cafe Atlantico" (1999)

Cafe Atlantico
release date: Aug. 1999
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5]

Studio album by Cesária Évora and the follow-up to Cabo Verde (1997). I really enjoy the former album but I think this one even surpasses it. Before this release, she wasn't internationally an unknown artist, as she had already harvested some broad recognition for both her 1988 album La diva aux pieds nus, and Miss Perfumado (1992), however, in 1996 she was nominated Best World Music Album for the first time at the Grammy Awards for her album Césaria. This release only underlined her status as one of the most renowned African artists as it was also nominated Best World Music Album at the 2000 Grammy Awards. The album also received 4,5 stars from 5 stars at allmusic.com (her highest ranked album here). The music on this album is rather close to that of her musical 'cousins' Cuban Susana Baca and Peruvian Omara Portuondo making it a beautiful cocktail of latin jazz, vocal jazz, and African jazz.

Cesária Évora "Cabo Verde" (1997)

Cabo Verde
release date: Mar. 1997
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,88]
producer: José Da Silva
label: Lusafrica / RCA / BMG - nationality: Cape Verde

Tracklist: 1. "Tchintchirote" - 2. "Sabine Largá'm" - 3. "Partida" - 4. "Sangue de Beirona" (4 / 5) - 5. "Apocalipse" - 6. "Mar é Morada de Sodade" - 7. "Bô ê di Meu Cretcheu" - 8. "Coragem irmon" - 9. "Quem Bô ê" - 10. "Regresso" - 11. "Zebra" - 12. "Mãe Velha" - 13. "Pe di Boi" - 14. "Ess pais"

Studio album by Cesária Évora originally released on French record label, Lusafrica, founded by the album's producer, José Da Silva.
This is beautiful African music from Cape Verde. Cesária Évora didn't make a great number of albums in her lifetime, although she lived to be 70 years old (born 1941). At the age of 47, her studio debut album is as late as 1988, and unfortunately she passed away in 2011 having by then released about a dozen studio albums. There's many more live and compilation albums with her fine melancholic singing voice, and her music continues to live on, and this album is a fine place to start. The music is African morna, or maybe more specifically coladeira (a faster style developed from the slow and more monotonous morna). I think, it's world vocal jazz and much in family with latin jazz, at least more so, than i.e. African mande folk, and frankly, I think, the music is somehow closely related to the music of Susana Baca of Peru and the music of Cuban grand lady Omara Portuondo. Without knowing the exact sources, one could imagine a musical relationship due to historical origins of Portuguese and Spanish folk and its effect on local music in both Peru, Cuba, and Capo Verde. Anyway, the music is original and B-A-Utiful. It's music I will always return to, and I cannot imagine that I should ever dislike it. I only need more of this.
Highly recommended. [ here's more ]