CD Reviews

Lura

M'Bem Di Fora | Times Square

By BANNING EYRE | April 17, 2007

3.5 Stars

This young Cape Verdean diva explores animated genres from her remote, African archipelago home — funana, batuku, mazurka, and more — with polish and nuance on her second international CD. Lura’s vocal delivery tends to the strong and sassy, though she can stretch to æthereal, as on the tone poem “Choro,” and to melancholy, as on “No Bem Falá,” which is as close as these 13 tracks get to a morna, the sorrowful style most associated with the reigning queen of Cape Verdean song, Cesaria Évora. The mostly acoustic accompaniment here creates rich sound textures of percussion, plucked and bowed strings, and often tasty accordion work by Madagascar’s Regis Gizavo. The title track translates as “I Come from the Country,” and it plays to Lura’s natural strength with driving, electric funana. She co-authors three tracks but mostly adapts excellent compositions by her contemporaries, like “Ponciana,” a Cape Verdean Romeo-and-Juliet story set to a 6/8 rhythm with tasty flashes of flamenco guitar. “Romaria” evokes the atmosphere of a summer street party with shuffling, traditional snare drum, whistles, ambient voices, and a celebratory refrain that says it all about this fast-rising African pop star.

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Topics: CD Reviews , Cesaria Evora

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