Search - Batuque & Finacon :: Cape Verde

The islands of Cape Verde present a unique historical and cultural situation. Uninhabited until the 1400's, these islands were populated at first by Portuguese traders and farm owners, and then later by slaves from Africa as the Portuguese attempted to make a profit on these volcanic rocks that refused to be commercially farmed. During the 17th century, many of the Africans escaped to the hills where they held onto both ancient African customs and some of the Portuguese culture. It is in this setting that batuque and finaçon developed, awaiting Cape Verde's independence in the '70s. Batuque ("to beat") is a percussive musical form developed for dancing and for the islands particular storytelling, called finaçon. While this was traditionally a women's music, one of the few surviving purveyors of the form is a man, Ntoni Denti D'Oro. Playing his drum, accompanied by guitars, a one-string fiddle, and a chorus of women, he weaves complex tales full of hidden meanings in the Creole language of his country; defiant, sexual and religious all in one turn of phrase. The music is rhythmic and folky, a collision of African and European culture with free thinking artistry. --Louis Gibson