Sara Tavares, one of the biggest stars in a new generation of Cape Verdean singers will play the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at Fairfield University, Sunday, Nov. 22 at 3 p.m. This event is a presentation of the University’s 2009-2010 Arts & Minds series. Tickets are $35.
The music of Tavares is full of ‘sunshine soul’ and her new album “Xinti” [pronounced ZHIN-tee] (Feel It), is suffused with it. Brimming with Cape Verdean guitar licks, Angolese rhythms, reggae and gospel sweetness, and warm Portuguese vocals, the CD, released in August 2009, is a startling collection that explains why the singer is one of world music’s most exciting young stars.
Her songs are lyrical, sensual and textured. They are intimate but also wrapped in irresistibly funky rhythms drawn from the Cape Verdean/African Diaspora. Tavares says that her newest album “…is not about a song, it’s something to feel.”
This young singer has captured the hearts of audiences around the world. The Boston Globe calls her music, “A sound that resonates around the world;” The New York Times wrote, “Her voice can caress phrases with the breathy ease of a Brazilian pop singer or take on a sharper African edge. But she never forces anything. Fusions that could easily turn out to be self-conscious and contrived turn out sounding supple and spontaneous instead;” and the Financial Times of London declared her, “Instantly memorable.”
Tavares’ musical journey mirrors her personal one. Her early songs were built around issues of Cape Verdean identity. Now, she explores the world of inner conflicts, using music as she describes it, “like an inner prayer from someone taking a deep breath and moving on.”
From the Portuguese gold disc-success of her debut solo album in 1999, “Mi Ma Bô” (released in the U.S. in 2008 as “Alive in Lisboa”) to this 2009 celebratory international tour, Tavares just keeps getting better. Alex Robinson of Songlines Magazine calls “’Xinti’ her best yet … a wash of gorgeous, intimate melodies and moods that are as soft as a gentle breeze…from Tavares’ trademark delicate finger-picking guitar … to the sweet melancholy of the last hidden song …Tavares continues to take increasing control of her music — crafting, singing, producing …the overall sound is pan-Portuguese, drawing on Africa, Lisbon and the rest of the world, but rooted firmly in Cape Verde…What a wonderful album this is, from a country and community that continues to enjoy a golden musical period.”
For a preview of Tavares, go to: http://www.fairfield.edu/arts/media_player_quick_tavares.html
Tickets are available online at quickcenter.com or by calling the Box Office at 203-254-4010. The toll free number is 877-ARTS-396. Special offers and discounts are available through the Quick Center’s email list.
