No Ama

The daughter of a diplomat, Nancy Vieira was born in Guinea Bissau, grew up in the Cape Verdean capital, Praia, and moved to Lisbon in her teens. Unsurprisingly then, this album sounds pretty much like most of the other albums by Europe’s Cape Verdean ex-pats: stylish, professional and pleasant to a note yet lacking much of the mystery, originality and lacerating saudade of the archipelago’s vintage recordings. The likes of Teófilo Chantre and Mario Lucio together supply almost half of the album’s songs, though it takes a composition by long gone morna scholar, Eugénio Tavares, to bring out the goosebumps. While it sounds as if Vieira’s bold yet sensual voice is grieving in harmony on ‘Ná Ó Minino Ná, it’s refreshing to learn that mornas can actually be sung to celebrate life as well as to lament it, that these words are actually part of a baptismal ritual for newborn babies. She also tackles the morna motherlode of B Leza, a favourite composer of the late Cesaria Evora, and her rendition of ‘Brasil (Nos Sonho Azul)’ swirls with a longing that sounds genuine enough, adrift on Yanick Almeida’s flute and Voginha’s Portuguese guitarra. If only Lusafrica, would put as much effort into curating Cape Verde’s neglected archives as they clearly lavish on glossy releases like this; how about a Soul of Cape Verde Vol 2 sometime?