root salad f20 Coladera
Cape Verde meets Brazil, melancholy meets exuberance, Bas Springer reckons.
master percussionist Miroca Paris. Their Lusaphone songs are influenced by the cul- tures and rhythms of both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, from Cuban rumba and Brazilian samba and candomblé to Cape Verdean rhythms and flamenco. They are named after coladeira, a traditional Cape Verdean music style. The trio’s unique musical universe is recorded in an atmo- spheric and unpolished way and combines Portuguese melancholy with Cape Verdean gentleness and kindness together with Brazilian exuberance.
C The Cape Verdean islands, some 400
miles off the west coast of Africa, are locat- ed in between the Iberian peninsula and Brazil, the ideal meeting point for the three musicians from Coladera. Earlier this year they gave a memorable showcase at the fifth edition of the Atlantic Music Expo, a yearly network meeting for music profes- sionals from Cape Verde, Africa, and all sides of the Atlantic, which was held in the capital Praia on the island of Santiago.
Coladera played in the afternoon in the courtyard of the Palácio Cultural Ildo Lobo in Praia where it can be really hot. Despite a curtain to protect the visitors and musicians from the burning sun, sweat beaded down the face of drummer Paris, nephew of the
oladera are an acoustic trio of Por- tuguese singer-guitarist João Pires, his Brazilian friend Vitor Santana (vocals, guitar) and Cape Verdean
famous Cape Verdean singer Tito Paris. With pulsing percussion work he supported the dialogue between the Iberian and Por- tuguese guitar of Pires and the vocals and guitar of Santana, who is blessed with a beautiful, melodic voice.
Vitor Santana explains the relationship between Cape Verde and Brazil. “When the Portuguese brought slaves from west Africa to Brazil they always made a stop in Cape Verde. So many of the slaves that arrived in Brazil had been in Cape Verde. In Brazil there is a lot of DNA from Cape Verde. You can find this DNA in many rhythms. One of them is coladeira. Coladeira is a little bit samba, a lit- tle bit bahia. Cape Verde is in the middle.”
“I met João in 2008 and in 2010 he came to Brazil He lived at my place for almost two years. Because we both are com- posers, we started writing songs together. He introduced me to the beauty of the Cape Verdean music. In Brazil we hardly knew anything about Cape Verdean music except, of course, Cesária Évora.”
João: “Besides the name of our group, coladeira is also a Cape Verdean rhythm which originates from the island of San Vin- cente, where you also have the morna, the slow music made world famous by Cesária Évora. Coladeira is very danceable but a lit- tle slower than funaná . The harmonies and melodies from the coladeira are from fado and the African rhythm is very close to Brazilian samba and semba from Angola.”
“We didn’t create the group, the group was created by itself,” says Vitor. “I was in the middle of recording my second solo album Beirut when I met João. We did an acoustic concert with the Brazilian percus- sionist Marcus Suzano. When we rehearsed for the first time we realised that something special was going on. We went to the studio and within three, four days we recorded everything live. Our album was among the top 100 CDs in Brazil in 2013.”
“Our songs are about love and where we are coming from. We also sing about the Orishas, supernatural beings from different African religions, who have found their way to most of the New World as a result of the Atlantic slave trade. One of our songs, Navega, is about sailing. As you know the Portuguese sailed the world seas to discover and conquer new territories.”
ian rhythms have their roots in Africa : samba, congo, congada, samba reggae. The slaves came from many places in Africa and mixed their culture in Brazil. Candomblé, my religion, is a Brazilian creation but the origin is of course African. This religion was born on the ships when the slaves started singing. The slave traders couldn’t stop them. When the slaves arrived in Brazil, their music was officially forbidden but could not be stopped in practice. Our music is about bringing people together. Just like with samba. If you want to sing, you sing. If you want to play the pandeiro, go ahead. The best thing about Brazilian music is to unite people and make people happy.”
“O
“I grew up with fado,” says João. “I studied flamenco guitar in Andalusia and lived for a while on Cape Verde where I stud- ied guitar with the Cape Verdean musician Bau. Now I’m playing with musicians from Cape Verde and Brazil. So what we create is world music in the true sense of the word.”
“Our second album La Dôtu Lado will
sound different,” explains Vitor. “The rhythms are the same but the compositions are differ- ent because we are developing another musi- cal language, which is the result of playing together so much. It’s more danceable”.
“I don’t know of any other group where a Brazilian musician is writing songs togeth- er with a Portuguese and Cape Verdean guy,” concludes João. “It’s also the first time a Brazilian musician is singing in Cape Verde Creole. I think we are making history.”
soundcloud.com/coladera F
f course the slave trade is an issue in Brazil. 90 percent of the people of Bahia are of African origin. Many Brazil-
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