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| Cafe Atlantico |  | | Genre: | Morna | | Catalogue Number: | 74321654012 | | Availability: | Yes | | Price: | £11.99 |
| Format: | CD | | Release Date: | 1999-05-10 |
| Description: | Unlike Mar Azul or earlier releases Miss Perfumado and Cesaria Evora, which were largely collections of the Portuguese-influenced song form called morna, Café Atlantico finds Evora singing Cuban and Brazilian traditionals. Evora's voice is as smooth as ever, but it's a little odd to hear her croon to a bolero or danzon. Still, the connection fits snugly as this release is a tribute to Evora's hometown of Mindelo, a port on the Cape Verdean island of São Vicente where sailors from Portugal, Argentina, Brazil, and the Caribbean cross-pollinated the music of Cape Verde. On Café Atlantico, Evora croons with her usual beauty, poise, and melancholia. Thankfully, instrumental accompaniment again includes the piano and acoustic guitar and bass, but with the flavourful addition of light (and only occasional) orchestral accompaniment, which highlights the creamy richness of this lovely Latin music. Café Atlantico takes a tasteful, innovative step in broadening Evora's repertoire, and its plaintive grace and relaxed romanticism emphasizes what the world has now come to realize: Cesaria Evora is the greatest living singer of our time. --Karen Karleski |
| Review: | Mojo (1/00, p.31) - Ranked #16 in Mojo Magazine's "Best of 1999."
Rolling Stone (8/5/99, p.67) - 3 1/2 stars (out of 5) - "...[ushers] Evora into atypically bright moods....[She] really only sings two ways: well or magnificiently."
Q Magazine (7/99, pp.110-2) - 4 stars (out of 5) - "...a lilting, mellow collection, ranging from the languorous...to the lighthearted....the crisp arrangements combined with her dry delivery ensure a lack of sentimentality."
CMJ (1/10/00, p.25) - Included in CMJ's "New World '99 Top 5" - "...a beautiful, finely wrought album that shows exactly why she's so popular..."
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