Track Listing

1. Libramor
2. Um Dia [One Day]
3. Tabanka [The Tabanka]
4. Eclipse
5. Marinh�ro [Sailor]
6. Maria
7. Terra'L [His Land]
8. Quebr�d Nem Djosa [Poor as a Church Mouse]
9. Na Nha Rubera [In My Valley]
10. Orfelino [Orphan]
11. Sukundida [Hide-And-Seek]
12. Mascadj�n [Freeloader]
13. Queima Roupa [out of the Blue]
14. Canta Um Tango [Sing a Tango] - Kantango, Lura

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #127009 in Music
• Released on: 2009-06-16
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .15 pounds

Album Description
Following the success of her ground-breaking album , "M'bem di Fora" released in 2007, the Cape Verdean sensation Lura returns with her finest album to date. Recorded in Brussels, Lisbon, Paris, Praia and Naples, this release confirms the talent and natural elegance of a singer who still has plenty of surprises in store. Displaying great maturity and a desire to cross boundaries in terms of age and genres, "M'bem di Fora" laid the foundation for Lura's arrival as the new torch-bearer of Cape Verdean culture, following in the footsteps of her mentor and influence, the great Cesaria Evora. On this album "Eclipse", Lura takes a loving, soulful look at the diverse range of her country's musical heritage, the different Cape Verdean genres from coladera to morna to funana and beyond. Full of verve and energy, but also with some ingenious touches, her voice again soars to a new level.

Customer Reviews

Entrancing, sensual, beautiful.
Lura has established herself as the leading voice among the Cape Verdean singers who have emerged in the great Cesaria Evora's wake.
She may have been bred in the Creole quarter of Lisbon, but her parents were Cape Verdean, and that is the culture she grew up in.
She likes to mock the cosiness of "morna" - Cesaria's own infinitely seductive song-form, the sound of an exquisitely lyrical nostalgia and regret.
After working as a backing singer for numerous performers, including Cesaria Evora herself, the gorgeously leonine Lura embarked on a solo career with her slinkily stylish debut Du Korpu ku Alma ("From the Body to the Soul"), which blends the traditional violin and accordion with slippery African guitar and jaunty sax.
On her 2006 album, "M'bem di Fora", it felt as if Lura's verve was being tempered by the need to sound a bit like Cesaria Evora. But the subsequent success of Mayra Andrade and Sara Tavares has allowed her, and a whole new wave of Cape Verde musicians, to find their own sound.
"Eclipse" will fit neatly into anyone's "Cape Verde nova' collection alongside Navega, Balancê and Lonji. It's every bit as rich, varied and satisfying. And it's the first Lura record to capture the vivacity and variety of her sparkling stage show.
Until now, it would have been fair to say that you needed to see this Lisbon-based Cape Verdean singer in the flesh to truly appreciate her energy, charisma and unabashed sexuality.
No longer. "Eclipse" is the work of an artist who has blossomed into full maturity.
Lura's musical roots may be more overtly African than those of some of her island rivals, but this set does a superb job of covering all the bases, from traditional morna balladry to upbeat samba and hints of reggae, without seeming at all calculated.
The album is rooted in tradition without being lost in nostalgia. Even wistful "mornas" are garnished with stylistic flourishes from Portuguese and world music and filtered through contemporary production.
There is also, of course, plenty of modern Cape Verdean music here.
The album closes with Teofilo Chantre's delicious, tender, electro-tinged goose-pimpling tango "Canta Um Tango', recorded in collaboration with Armani-suited Neapolitans Kantango.
It is surely destined to be a cocktail-bar hit. Lura's voice is crisp, assertive magnificent throughout; at times reflective and mournful, at others as euphoric as a carnival samba.
Lura's music is a little different - more upbeat, more overtly African and much more danceable.
"Each of the islands has its own music and rhythms," she says. "Cesaria Evora comes from St. Vincente, the most populated island, where there is a lot of influence from Europe. But my family are from Santiago, where everything about the culture is much more African".
"Eclipse" showcases also a swaying, lyrical inflection running through the music of Portuguese Africa and Brazil alongside her irresistible verve ant vibrant personality and passion which are customary when she performs 'live'. This is an entrancing, sensual, beautiful album.
Enjoy.
Di Korpu Ku Alma
M'Bem di Fora
Xinti

"Eclipse (2009) ... Lura ... Four Quarters Ent."
Four Quarters Ent. presents "ECLIPSE" --- The Portuguese singer Lura, born Maria de Lurdes Pina Assunção is a singer and musician. Born in Portugal to Cape-Verdian parents, she considers herself as a Cape-Verdian --- Her compositions are based on traditional Cape-Verdian music as for example the Morna, Funaná and Batuque, and influenced by African and contemporary Western music.

Her father came from Santiago and her mother from São Nicolau. Initially she wanted to become a dancer or a swimming instructor. She became a singer at the age of seventeen when Juka, an artist from São Tomé and Príncipe, asked her to sing a duet with him for a music album --- The album became a success, and subsequently she participated in productions by artists such as Bonga, Tito Paris, Paulo Flores and Paulinho Vieira.

In 1996 she recorded her first album Nha Vida with her own compositions --- In 1997 she participated in the AIDS awareness project Red Hot + Lisbon among famous artists such as Caetano Veloso, Marisa Monte, Djavan, Bonga and Teresa Salgueiro --- Further album productions and concerts all over Europe followed --- In 2007 she sang her song Morna in the film Fados by Spanish film director Carlos Saura.

Eclipse - (Track Listings)
1 Libramor 4:26
2 Um Dia One Day 4:27
3 Tabanka the Tabanka 4:22
4 Eclipse 5:36
5 Marinhêro Sailor 3:55
6 Maria 3:51
7 Terra'l His Land 4:40
8 Quebród Nem Djosa Poor as a Church Mouse 4:02
9 Na Nha Rubera in My Valley 4:28
10 Orfelino Orphan 4:26
11 Sukundida Hide-And-Seek 3:49
12 Mascadjôn Freeloader 4:13
13 Queima Roupa out of the Blue 3:29
14 Canta Um Tango / Kantango Sing a Tango 5:50 (bonus track)

BIOS:
Lura (aka: Maria de Lurdes Pina Assunção)
Date of Birth: 1975 - Lisbon, Portugal
Date of Death: Still Living

Hats off to Jose da Silva (Producer), Guy N'Sangue (Bass Guitar), Moustapha Cisse (Percussion), Pedro Castro (Guitar), Régis Gizavo (Accordion), Toy Vieira (Harmonica, Piano, 12-string Guitar, Hand Clapping, Ferrino), Francois Perchat (Cello), Ademiro José "Miroca" Miranda P(ercussion) , Cau Paris (Percussion, Drums) --- Big thank you to the label Four Quarters Ent. for sharing this unbelievable talent with us --- less we not forget the artists herself -- LURA!


Total Time: 62 min on 14 Tracks ~ Four Quarters Ent. 1813 ~ (06/16/2009)