Barefoot diva

-
A few weeks ago one of my favorite singers died.  You may never have heard of her, I did only by accident. Almost a decade ago, I was visiting Barnes and Noble and I heard some awesome club beats that happened to be her album, Club Sodade. It contained remixes of her songs set to some serious club/dance beats. I will giddily admit to being partial to anything remotely related to Portugal as well as club music - so I was hooked. The summer before my 20th class reunion, that cd in my handheld walkman helped me maintain a walking regimen that had me looking better than I had when I graduated high school. 

Cesaria Evora, was a cigarette smoking, voluptuous, barefooted Grammy award winning babe from the African island nation, Cape Verde. After decades as a bar singer she was "discovered" at age 44, traveled to Portugal to perform at the invitation of her countryman Bana, and from that exposure later recorded in Paris. Her first album was released when she was 47! How's that for 50 being the new 30? That album, La Diva Aux Pieds Nux (Barefoot Diva), introduced the world to Cape Verdean blues (Morna). From then on she sang, toured, garnered awards (including a Grammy in 2004) and stayed true to her debut album title and nickname often eschewing shoes while performing. A true VBG in her own right with an effortless voice like mahogany and silk. OBRIGADO for opening my horizons, my Barefoot diva.  Descanse Em Paz (rest in peace), Cesaria.


SODADE
PETIT PAYS



NUTRIDINHA


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I got the power...

-
Image
This post started off 6 weeks ago as a story about my purchase of a new power drill as a gift for myself. Well after milling over that too many times, it was not to be.  But it got me thinking about power - you start out in one direction and find yourself on an unforeseen and completely different path if you go with the flow. But the theme is the same - power - Who's got it, how to get it, what the heck to do with. My first grade elementary class performed the play Cinderella.  Of course I, like any sensible girl, wanted to play the lead role.  Who doesn't love a rag to riches story?  But alas this pretty little girl named Norma who only ate white bread sandwiches with the crusts removed was chosen for the lead  Now the fact that I remember that bit of minutia from nearly 40 years ago is frightening since I can barely remember any of what went on in my life yesterday.  Actually it proves that I have been carrying that little piece of "here's one more way I didn&
Read more

Happy New Year!!

-
Image
With a New Year comes another chance to manifest in my physical life what I've carried around in my head for years. I brought 2012 in quietly with calm celebration with family and more than a few swigs of Bellini but this year there are no resolutions to find the perfect career path, become vegetarian, lose weight, get out of debt, save more, go on "X" number of dates, play hostess more or get my travel mojo back. Of course, I still want to do all of that. But this first week of  2012, one of the most auspicious times of the year for me, I have chosen to celebrate my accomplishments of the previous year. I learned all too suddenly and sadly how fleeting life can be.  And the postponement of desires, joys until ... can sadly become never if one waits too long not knowing the hour of our quietus.  Through gratitude and reflection I hope to propel myself forward in the new year while living and feeling more in the moment than ever before. So here we go.  In 2011 I:
Read more

She's back

-
Image
and right now my life hurts like brand new shoes to quote the wonderful India Arie. For the second time in as many years VBG has fallen on challenging times. And rather than this time being familiar ground, I feel I am in uncharted and far more treacherous waters.  And anyone who knows me, knows too, that one of my least proud personal factoids is that this Voluptuous Brown Gurl never learned to swim.   Six weeks ago I spent my last day at the "new" job* I'd so gleefully chirped about in a post in January 2012.  My departure was unexpected in timing (I thought I had about 2 months before the clock ran out) but more than slightly welcomed.  I'd known fairly soon after starting that it just wasn't the place for me but it was bearable. As I was just coming off half a year of unemployment, I thought my resume might look less conspicuous if I stayed put a little while -  like a year or so.   When I started the job*, I worked a 4 day/32 hr week which was a
Read more