Saturday 12th September
20.00 Folclorico de Velas
21.00 T-Cla-2
23.00 Cordas do Sol
00.00 Sara Tavares
01.30 Ky-mani Marley
03.30 Vozes da Diaspora

Click here to view the official website for the event.

Other arrangements for booking transport and reserving a meal that evening should be made through Carlos at Cafe Creolo.

The metropolitan Orchestra were as expected fantastic playing a plethora of musical styles. Opening with the Cape Verdean and Portuguese national anthems, which encouraged a great sense of national pride within the crowd, The Orchestra went on to play some more classic orchestral music from Mozart and Brahms and of course accompanied the various Cape Verdean singers in each of their individual sets.

Head-lining the event was the famous Cape Verdean singer Tito Paris. Born May 30, 1963 in Mindelo, São Vicente, Cape Verde Tito Paris is among the most popular musicians from Cape Verde successfully blending the sound of Cape Verdean traditional Mornas, Coladeiras and Funanas with the moderns sounds of Portugal and the rest of the world. Tito Paris himself was not however the only singer on Saturday night.

The opening act was an excellent, interesting and diverse blend of instrumental hip hop /rap highlighting just how adaptable and skilled the Metropolitan Orchestra is. The crowd was then treated to some classic Cape Verdean Mornas from artists such as Dany Silva, Gil do Carmo, Pena Betu, Toy Vieira and Nha Cretche to name but a few. The stand out performer of the evening was the flamboyant and crowd rousing signer Sandra Horta who was possibly the best part of the evening’s entertainment with her phenomenal stage presence and voice. Sandra’s music was much livelier than the classical Cape Verdean music being more comparable to a Cape Verdean Shakira or Nelly Furtado. As yet she has not recorded an album but is instead concentrating on her studies in Portugal however after Saturdays performance she is certainly a name to watch out for.

A spectacular evening set in a sublime location congratulations must be given to the event organisers and of course the artists themselves for a wonderful show and let’s hope that there are more events set to come from Pedra de Lume.

Beer 100ECV

Saturday 30th May
12.00 DJ
Football & volleyball tournaments
Beach games

20:00 – Soldados de ja
21:00 – Sanca e banda
22:00 – Ary
23:00 – Nazalio Fortes e Banda

Beer 100ECV

Sunday 31st May
Music All day
16.00 Miss Sixty Competition
Dj Paty
18.00 Party

Beer 100ECV

When: Saturday 9th May
Where: Palha Verde

13.00 Welcome cocktails
13.30 Live music from “special” guests
14.00 BBQ
16.00 Auction of Art
17.00 DJ
19.00 Event finishes

For more information & to buy tickets contact Shop 32 (in front of the Santa Maria square & Cultural Cafe) on +238 2422160
or La Paloma in Espargos

I had a business meeting at the airport, and feeling confident of the ways of the town, thought I would save myself 9 euros each way by taking the bus. Fine, on the way, in broad daylight, and knowing where the bus runs from. When I came out of the airport, it was dusk, and chilly, and I was just wearing a thin summer frock and sunglasses. Still, not prepared to give in and go the tourist way, and get a cab, I confidently started walking towards Espargos, thinking that I would hail the town bus, or ‘aluguer’, as it passed me by. What I didn’t bargain for, was that Espargos was in actuality quite a bit further than the 300 yards it looked, and that there was no path, and every time a lorry passed it would cover me in hot dust and almost blow me off the road. 

Still, I persevered and was shortly joined by a female dog who crossed the highway to join me (this is the only tarmac road on the island), most keenly, almost getting run down, and then leapt up at me gleefully. Not being a dog person, I was unsure how to react, so asked it politely to get down please, which it eventually did, and then followed me, at a respectable distance behind. By now, it was actually dark, spooky, the town was but a distant glimmer, and two aluguers had passed me by, before I had time to realise and hail them down. I started talking to myself, loudly, and panicking slightly, after all we were only about 1 mile from where the only major crime on the island had ever been commited, 2 weeks ago,  a ‘crime of passion’…

The road had suddenly become a normal carriageway, not a dual carriageway, which seemed to excite my dog friend, so now I was shouting ‘get out of the road please, bitch’, to the dog, as well as being frightened, and wondering why I hadn’t just got a cab, for the sake of 9 euros, and it was a business meeting after all…. My sense of adventure had got the best of me.

Finally, in the distance, I spotted a garage, and decided a cigarette would be in order, if not vital …. In the queue I spotted a friendly face, one of the cab drivers from Santa Maria, and tried to ask in my most casual voice, which came out as a hysterical whimper – ‘ hi, are you going into Santa Maria?’ He wasn’t , but obviously sensed my distress and offered to take me to the ‘bus stop’, hence my position in the back of the bus between the boys and eggs, music and fanta…
Another exciting adventure in the life of…

May 2007
I left the house at 9.30am, the normal time to set off for work, unless I have an early appointment. I took 2 bags to the bins, there are communal bins around the town, you have to take your rubbish and then it is collected daily by the bin lorry.

On the way, a tiny Cape Verdian girl waved and shouted ‘ola’ from the top of an unfinished apartment block, where her mother was hanging out the daily wash.

I continued into ‘town’, past the Correio, where I poked my head around the door to ask for any post, I received a shake of the head from the post lady, nothing today, she seems to know the names of all the estrangeiros without you having to tell her. Coming out of the post office was one of the girls from the local shop, we had a brief chat, in a mixture of English, Portuguese and Criole, before she went into work and I carried on the walk to my tiny beach office. As I rounded the corner to walk past the primary school, a young Cape Verdian boy, probably about six, was happily chasing round with a tyre, wearing only a T-shirt, nothing else at all. He was smiling happily to himself with his game, and gave me a wonderful grin. A few minutes later, one of the Senegalese, who I don’t think I have spoken to before called out to me.‘I want to see a photograph of you 20 years ago, you are so beautiful now…!’ This cheers me immensely, even though I am not in need of cheering.

Just as I approach my office, one of the fisherman passes with his wheelbarrow of the morning catch. He is always wearing the tiniest pants (nothing else) and carrying a huge sharp knife. He shouts out, ‘good morning baby face, you are beautiful today..’ In the UK he would have been arrested, either for indecent pants, or carrying a large dangerous weapon. Here it is just every day life.
This is life in Cape Verde, this is the commute to work. I unlock the office door and walk in, to the scent of freshly brewed coffee and freshly baked Foccacia from the Italian beach café next door. Now to start the day…..

About the Author: In January 2007 Bev Chadwick swapped gigging in the UK for a lucrative career in real estate in Cape Verde. Despite her hectic schedule, she still manages to perform two or three times a week in Santa Maria and is considered somewhat of a local celebrity, particularly with the South American contingent, who arrive in their dozens for every show.

After months of being pestered, she finally agreed to write a regular column for the AboutSal site to share with us her experiences.

1,000 CV Escudos per person.

Between 13.00 – 17.00

To make a reservation or for more information contact Carlos on 9953690

Many global corporations have also started to more actively support IWD by running their own internal events and through supporting external ones. For example, on 8 March search engine and media giant Google some years even changes its logo on its global search pages. Year on year IWD is certainly increasing in status. The United States even designates the whole month of March as ‘Women’s History Month’.

So we thought we would join in, but on Saturday , so we are offering every woman coming to Blu bar on Saturday 7th March between 22:00 and 24:00 a free drink

Blu Bar
Residence Soleil (behind Barracuda Restaurant)
Santa Maria, Sal
Live Music Every Thursday 21:30 – 22:30

Happy Hour
Mon – Sat 18: – 20:30
Sun 16:30 – 21: 30

Cesária was presented the award by the French Minister of Culture Christine Albanel during a ceremony inside the Ministry of Culture in Paris, France.

Cesária Évora lost her father at the age of seven. After his death, Cesária’s mother struggled to support her on meager earnings as a cook, eventually entrusting Cesária to the care of an orphanage. It was in the orphanage choir that Cesária first learned to sing.

At 16, Cesária met a Cape Verdean sailor named Eduardo who taught her the traditional Cape Verdean styles of music of coladeiras and mornas. The mornas are songs of sadness, sorrow and yearning. She began singing in local bars and hotels. With the help of local musicians, she would hone her skills and would later be proclaimed “Queen of Mornas” by her fans. She became famous in Cape Verde, but remained relatively unknown internationally.

Cesária had an uncle who was a well-known musician and songwriter who used the name B. Leza (a pun on beleza, Portuguese for “beauty”). Many of Cesária’s loveliest songs on the first several albums are his.

Évora remained popular at the time but her fame did not lead to financial success. Frustrated by personal and financial problems, compounded by the very difficult economic and political situation in Cape Verde, Évora gave up singing to support her family. She didn’t perform for 10 years, which she describes as her “dark years”. During this time she struggled with alcoholism.

Cesária resumed performing after being encouraged by a Cape Verdean exile, leading musician and patron of the arts, Bana, who lived in Portugal. He secured invitations to Portugal where she performed a series of concerts sponsored by a local women’s organization.

A Frenchman of Cape Verdean descent named José Da Silva persuaded her to go to Paris where she recorded a new album, La Diva Aux Pieds Nus (The Barefoot Diva) in 1988. The song “Sodade” was her first international hit, the first hit for a non-French song in France, and marked the beginning of worldwide fame for Cesária Évora. The Portuguese term saudade is complex and infamously difficult to translate, related to homesickness, nostalgia, longing, sadness, and regret. The expression of “sodade” is integral to Cape Verdean music. This album won critical acclaim and began for her a dramatic comeback that accelerated with her 1992 album, Miss Perfumado. She became an international star at the age of 47.

The “Legion of Honour” was introduced by Napolean Bonaparte in 1802 as way of acknowledging achievement and merit to the French nation.

Discography

* La Diva Aux Pieds Nus (1988)
* Distino di Belita (1990)
* Mar Azul (1991)
* Miss Perfumado (1992)
* Cesária (1995)
* Cabo Verde (1997)
* Café Atlantico (1999)
* São Vicente di Longe (2001)
* Voz d’Amor (2003)
* Rogamar (2006)

http://www.cesaria-evora.com/

Cesaria Evora