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Cape Crusaders T
he Atlantic Music Expo and Kriol Jazz Festival take place in Santiago, the largest of Cape Verde’s archipelago of ten vol- canic islands which stand iso-
lated off the coast of Senegal. On a beau- tiful plateau at the cultural centre of the capital Praia, with its typical colonial Por- tugese architecture of muted Mediter- ranean colours, the events take over the streets and squares overlooking the sea for a week of music.
Cape Verde has a chequered and bru-
tal history. It was a turntable for the West African transatlantic slave trade and more recently from 1936–74 home to a concen- tration camp at Tarafal housing Jewish pris- oners from Portugal, and political prisoners from most of the dictatorships of West Africa. But this is a throwback to colonial- ism. The islanders are gentle, laid-back, warm and hospitable, and one senses a renaissance, a resurgence of an indigenous cultural heritage, and in particular a Creole identity of which music is a huge part.
The minister for culture, Mario Lucio de Sousa, himself a musician, is passionate to turn a dubious colonial past into a posi-
Cape Verde’s Altantic Music Expo is a growing spotlight on Creole culture. Judith Burrows took pen and camera.
tive future by creating a centre for culture and the arts and instigating a link for the scattered nations of West Africa and the diaspora of Cape Verdeans spread around the world.
The AME showcases new artists, holds workshops and events, a market and free concerts in the evening. I am struck by the quality of the music. The prevalence of Cape Verdean musicians highlights the musical prowess of a nation reinventing its identity. The music has a rich variety of styles: funana, batuco, morna, coladera with a hint of mazurka, contradanse, waltz, and samba, much of it steeped in saudade – “a deep emotional state of pro- found melancholic longing for an absent something or someone that one loves.”
Alina Fraz˜ao from Angola mesmerises the audience on day one with her self- penned lyrics, “pure poetry“ according to one Cape Verdean. In the evening, the Rue Pedoni comes to life with Bino Barros (CV), Kuente I Tambu (Curaçao / Netherlands) and Ferro Gaita (CV) who play the distinc- tive ferrinho – a long piece of iron and knife – and the gaita, a European style dia- tonic accordeon.
Dino d’Santiago’s (CV) velvet tones, Maya Kamarty (La Réunion) and soulful Nancy Vieira (CV) stir the lunchtime net- working, and the latter both open the Kriol Jazz Festival, Maya duetting with Cape Verdean Tcheka, and Nancy singing with the Cesaria Evora Orchestra.
In the evenings the audience on the Rue Pedoni rocks to Manecas Costa (Guinea Bissau), Rui Cruz (CV), Ceuzany (CV) and Mehdi Massouli (Morocco)
The Kriol Jazz festival merges with the AME on day three taking over a beautiful square. It’s a combination of world music and the purer jazz of pianist Monty Alexander and drummer Ron Savage. West African veterans Ismael Lô and Habib Koité do not disappoint, and Bonga is well received with an energetic set.
The AME and Kriol Jazz Festival help to re-connect the cultures of Creole peo- ples with similar heritage living oceans apart. They reinforce an identity, and build on the heritage of Cape Verde in a positive way.
www.atlanticmusicexpo.com www.krioljazzfestival.com
Below: view from the old town. Opposite page, clockwise from top left: La Reunion’s Maya Kamarty duets with Cape Verde’s Tcheka; percussionist from Ferro Gaita; Nancy Vierra; Angola’s Alina Frazao gets inspected by a local; Guinea Bissau’s Manecas Costa.
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