Cesaria Evora: Cafe Atlantico (BMG)
The weather changed when I first put on this latest recording from the musical queen of the Cape Verde islands. Swaying rhythms and easy-flowing melodies brought to mind the sun and the sand. Cesaria Evora sings with a sultry passion, yet always seems well within herself as if she has seen it all. And at 58, after a life only recently touched by success, she probably has. It is this seasoned, slightly weary tone which adds a wonderful piquancy to her singing. Evora is the islands' foremost practitioner of the morna style, which combines West African percussion with Portuguese fados, Brazilian modhinas, and British sea-chanteys no less, or so I'm told. And if this collection is a little more downbeat than usual, then let it serve merely as an introduction to this remarkable singer.
Joe Breen
Clarence `Gatemouth' Brown: Blackjack (Sugar Hill)
Gatemouth Brown has a serious reputation in his native Texas and further afield for his eclectic output. While principally a blues player, and an influential one at that, Gatemouth has always preferred to mix and match as he sees fit; a little jazz here, a little country there, a touch of swing here and the blues always there. The instrumental, Song For Renee, showcases this open mind, with Gatemouth's fiddle leading the charge. This is followed by a cajun workout before he swivels his blues harp into action then shakes down his guitar for a jazzy piece. But good as all the tracks are, the album sounds like a sampler and lacks any cohesive identity other than that it is another Gatemouth Brown album.
Joe Breen