Edition 47: Summer 2009

Emma Gregg explores the traditions of a nation that should appear on every music-loving traveller’s wish-list.

Wistful, poetic and deliciously melancholic, there’s something highly evocative about mornas, the ballads which are central to Cape Verdean culture. This West African island nation has often had to withstand long periods of drought and famine, with families torn apart through loss of life and enforced economic migration. An expression of pain and resilience, the morna is steeped in sodade, the nostalgic longing which is quintessentially Cape Verdean. It has many celebrated exponents, not least the great Cesária Évora.

Cape Verde’s other musical styles are just as irresistible – and more danceable. Crank up the beat of a morna and you end up with a coladêra, a funky, hip-wiggling dance full of Latin and Caribbean rhythms. Couples dance the coladêra together, ballroom-style. Another favourite dance, funaná, is played on the gaita (accordion) and ferrinho (metal scraper), with a fast, powerful pulse and plenty of body contact. Then there’s batuko, which harks back to the West African mainland: women in big skirts dance in a circle, clapping, stamping and beating out the rhythm on their thighs, each leaping into the centre for a frenetic solo.

With its lilting melodies and hot-blooded rhythms, traditional Cape Verdean music sounds more Latin then African – in fact, drums, the backbone of many styles of West African music, are little used except by carnival bands. Instead, the tempo is set by rolling chords on the violão (guitar), overlaid with rapid strumming on the cavaquinho, a small, high-pitched, four-string guitar which looks endearingly like a toy. Providing the melody, gypsy-style, are a virtuoso rabeca (violin) or a solo singer who, like Évora, commands total adulation.

Hear it live

The most enchanting way to enjoy music in Cape Verde is to happen across a tocatina – an informal jam session – which might take place in any bar, at any time. The town of Espargos (Sal), which has a music school, is a good place to keep your ears open. For something more guaranteed, you’ll need to know where to go. Here are our tips:

• In Praia (Santiago), check out the Quintal da Música on Avenida Amílcar Cabral, an intimate club whose calendar of events reads like a Who’s Who of Cape Verdean music.

• Hang out in the main square of any Cape Verdean town on a Sunday, to hear musicians playing in the bandstand.

• Make for Mindelo (São Vicente), the town with the best selection of live music venues in the country.

• Time your trip to coincide with a saint’s day festival – every island has several of these each year – or a music festival such as Praia da Gambôa (Santiago, May) or Baía das Gatas (São Vicente, August).

• Visit São Vicente or São Nicolau in the run-up to Shrove Tuesday, when both islands are gripped by carnival fever, with musical events galore.

• Shake your stuff at the Creole nights organised by the tourist hotels on Sal – you’ll be guaranteed a live band and some raunchy traditional dancing.