CAPE VERDEAN BLUES TOUR & PRESS HIGHLIGHTS

Folkalist Records has released award-winning vocalist and composer Kavita Shah's latest album, Cape Verdean Blues, a love letter to the legendary singer Cesária Évora and her breathtaking archipelago. Cape Verdean Blues is the culmination of seven years of immersion on the island of São Vicente, Cape Verde, West Africa; the 12-song album of traditional mornas and coladeiras was recorded in Mindelo, Lisbon, and New York. At the heart of the work is “sodade,” an idiomatic word that lacks an English definition, but connotes a melancholy sense of transience that permeates Cape Verde and its music. Shah, herself a daughter of diaspora who resonated with the music’s language of longing, teamed up with Évora’s longtime bandmates–including the master acoustic guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Bau–to produce her most personal work to date: this is music that makes you want to dance and cry at the same time. Shah celebrated the release of Cape Verdean Blues with a 17-city tour in the US, Portugal, Cape Verde and France. She was joined on stage by leading Cape Verdean musicians Bau, Jorge Almeida, Miroca Paris, and N'du, plus special guest vocalists Fantcha (New York), Nancy Vieira (Lisbon), Tete Alhinho (Praia), and Teofilo Chantre (Paris). The album garnered critical acclaim with rave reviews in the New York Times, The Guardian, & Songlines, inclusion on several Best of 2023 lists, and features on WNYC New Sounds, WNYC All of It, TSF Jazz, and WBGO. Here are some press highlights:

Dive deeper into the stories behind the songs by visiting the digital liner notes