Peak Performances... Lura
April 4, 2008
AfricaSounds caught up with one of our favorite Cape Verdean voices, Lura, who performed at New Jersey's Montclair University at the Alexander Kasser Theater as part of University's well received Peak Performances series. The intimate concert hall setting allowed the audience to appreciate the warmth and subtle tonalities of her voice that might have been missed in a club setting.
"Tonight we will do a little travel to Cape Verde, to explore the african influences, the brazilian influences and the european influences..." With this introduction, Lura proceeded to elaborate upon the variety of rhythms from Cape Verde while highlighting throughout the show which were used for each song. Not only did she introduce many of the songs with a hand clapped rhythm but the auditorium's acoustics also accentuated the interplay between her voice and each musician's instrument within the ensemble.
The musicians accompanying Lura included Guillaume Singer on violin, Kau Morais on drums, Jair Pina on percussion, Toy Vieira on piano, Vais Dias on guitar and Russo Figueiredo on bass.
The band and the material were familiar to some in the audience, others seemed to be discovering it for the first time. Over several performances and a lot of listening to Lura's CDs, we've become more familiar with several of the main Cape Verdean rhythms - coladiera, funana, batuku - which allowed us to appreciate the band's mastery and interaction amongst themselves onstage.
Songs were kept tight without the long improvisations that one usually encounters with live african performances and there was a playfulness and lighthearted spirit between the musicians who were clearly enjoying themselves and Lura's presence on stage.
Guillaume Singer on violin took the lead on "Mari D'Ascenson" and "As-Agua" and Lura danced as he played his fiddle. The standout for us, Mari D’ Ascencon, is a Mazurka, a folk rhythm normally driven by accordion but here Gillaume Singer leant it a countryesque flavor on violin. The rural road that she sings about is a metaphor that conveys the message that life, like this road, is a rugged one to travel.
Toy Viera, on piano, is Lura's musical arranger - his instrument this evening had more presence live that it does in the recorded compositions on Lura's albums. He provided the melodic undercurrent for much of the evening's performance and shone on the two ballads, "Nha Vida" and "Padoce de Ceu Azul".
The late Orlando Pantera penned the song "Vazulina" which is featured on Lura's album "Di Korpu Ku Alma." Lura explained it is a humorous commentary about the many uses for vaseline particularly as a remedy for dry hair. Her vocal delivery was extremely percussive, at times matching the intensity and speed of the drummer.
Lura also performed a song in the Batuku rhythm - this is a communal song and dance hailing from the island's African roots, and traditionally has been performed by a group of women, who sit in a circle and beat upon a handmade percussion called the Tchabeta which is held between the thighs.
Traditionally, a narrator or leader of song performs in the middle of the circle of women, wears a pano around the waste, dancing and performing call and response to the members of the circle. In previous club appearances its been harder to hear but tonight the Tchabeta stood our clearly making the song even more interesting for us.
"Mundo es Nos" was extended by an ecstatic barefoot dance as Lura kicked off her high heel shoes while the audience clapped to the rhythm.
The performance was approximately 90 minutes in duration, included songs culled from Lura's previous two albums, "Di Korpu Ku Alma" and the follow-up "M'Bem Di Fora" which are widely available.Lura's tour was to continue to the mid-West for several smaller performance in locales that had not encountered Cape Verdean music in the past. This summer, Lura performs in Europe and Martinique.
Lura's official website: http://www.luracriola.com
