Search - Cesaria Evora :: La Diva Aux Pieds Nus

A mixed bag

Primoz Peterlin | 07/07/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"OK, I better admit it at the start: I am fan of this Capverdean singer with a sensuous velvety voice. I am a proud owner of five her CD's, and whenever Cesaria held a concert in Ljubljana (twice so far), I made sure I was somewhere near.Recorded in 1988, The barefoot diva (La diva aux pieds nus) was Cesaria Evora's first album. Unlike her later later works, where she focused exclusively on mornas, this album offers a wider variety of styles.It is interesting to follow the different fates that particular tracks on the album have seen. While there is a slight chance that you will hear any of the four beautiful mornas on the album - Destino Negro, Frutu Proibido, Traz D'Horizonte or Cabo Verde Terra Estimada - if you hear her on a concert today, it was actually the first track, Bia Lulucha, a coladera with a touch of zouk, that first made her famous in the local community. You are unlikely to hear it now. As for the remaining three tracks, Passei, Lucy and Despidida de Immigrante, they are rightfully and deservedly forgotten.So while The barefoot diva is an important album, which launched her onto the French and European scene, I think it was only Miss Perfumado (recored in 1992), when she really reached her peak and her full potential."