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Language:

Creole Portuguese

Genre:

Afropop Coladeira Morna Rhythm & blues

Instrument:

Female vocals

Articles:
On Cape Verdean music
On Lura

On the Internet
Lura music videos - from Eclipse
Lura great music video
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Biography

She is born in Lisbon in 1975 and has little by little become aware of her Cape Verdean identity, even if she is a Portuguese citizen. She has learnt Creole from her friends at school, and today she is able to speak and write songs in what she considers her mother tongue.
As a child Lura wanted to become a dancer, later she worked as a swimming teacher in Lisbon. She has been acting with the Plano Seis theatre company, an experience that has helped a lot on stage and given her stage peformance a boost. Gradually Lura was dragged into music, and she has now released 4 albums, the first in 1996, at the age of 21. The song "Nha Vida" was chosen for the Portuguese compilation "Ond Sonora Red Hot", which included many of the greatest performers of the Portugues speaking world, among them Caetano Veloso.
In November 2003 Lura performed with several other young, female singers in the UK, as part of the "Women of Cape Verde" show.
Lura has a sweet, but powerful voice, and is based in what one might call Afropop. But there is also another tendency; she seems to become more and more aware of her Cape Verdean roots, and she is on her way to establish a new and modernised Cape Verdean sound, influenced by international pop as well as rhythm and blues and jazz.

Relevant artists:
Tcheka
Boy Ge Mendes
Bonga
Angelique Kidjo
Mariana Ramos
Swagato

NHA VIDA
Harmonia/1996

IN LOVE
Harmonia/Lusafrica/2002

DI KORPU KU ALMA  
Lusafrica/2004

The first time I heard this CD I thought it quite ordinary. There are may of these young talented female singers out there fighting for your attention. And there was nothing special about this Lura, I thought at first. The first two tracks of her new album sounded OK, and I thought just that: Another singing lady. But then, on track 3 "Na ri na" something happens. You're caught by something that suddenly is very attractive and moving. Suddenly this is very catchy, it has character and one is tapping one's feet. And I had to admit: This young woman certainly has a good voice! This continues on track 4, her own "Nha vida", which she really sings with conviction. Her voice is girlish, but strong, she might be compared to a young Angelique Kidjo. And like Kidjo she sings in a style very close to pop. The album consists of a dozen songs, written by old guard Cape Verdeans such as Alberto 'Katchas' Martins & Orlando 'Pantera' Barreto, new artists like Luis Lima, Manuel ‘Tchéka’ Andrade & Quim Alves as well as by Lura herself. This album is more than pop, there is something else here; a modernised Cape Verdean sound. Lura is bringing in levels of contemporary feel to her music, using soul & jazz influences and introducing a powerful r&b. She's backed by strong musicians on mainly accoustic instruments, guitar, piano, violin and accordion. The album keeps the standard set on tracks 3 and 4 and the total comes out very nice. She is may be not the new Cesaria Evora. But she is the new Lura! I can understand those who say that Lura is the future of Cape Verdean music. Watch out.

DI KORPU KU ALMA 2005  
Lusafrica/2005

A new version of Lura's breakthrough album "Di korpu ku alma" is here, now with 3 new tracks and a DVD added. So what new does this bring? Quite a lot, actually.
The old songs "Nha vida" and "Dze que dze" has been removed, and 3 new tracks; "Mundu e nos" "Es bida" and "Oh naia" are added. The song "Tabanka assigo" is also recorded anew. The sum of these changes makes "Di korpu-" stand out as a better album, no doubt. The new songs are good, catchy, they are kept in the same style. "Es bida", a slow Orlando Pantera tune, "Oh naia" catchy, nearly ressembling "Na ri na". Anyway these songs somehow make the album sound more uniform.
The biggest change or addition is however the DVD! This presents 2 of Lura's videos "Na ri na" and "Vazulina" and not to forget a 45 minutes long concert clip from "Grand Rex" in Paris. The quality of the latter is superb and really makes you realise that Lura is a coming world star. Lura is the kind of artist who is better live than on record. She has a fantastic stage presence, she shines! It is very wise of her record company to show us her stage performances. After this issue, Lura will be signed all over the world, believe me!
To be a little critical I have to say there's still potential for Lura. Listening through the whole album still gives me the same feeling as with for instance ABBA: Too much sweetness. Each song is excellent, but in total things are a bit too slick.
But don't worry: This new album shows with absolutely no doubt:Lura is here to stay; one of the hottest new artists around!

M'BEM DI FORA
Lusafrica/2007

ECLIPSE  
Lusafrica/2009

It's starts very promising with "Libramor", a cool, jazzy song by Mario Lucio. This laidback way of singing suits Lura very well and gives me the idea that this is a kind of Cape Verdean accoustic jazz album. This idea is underlined in the next song in the same fashion, "Um dia", written by Toy Vieira, the excellent piano player in Lura's band. So far, so good. But then the style is broken with "Tabanka", a march like celebration of the tabanka feast. On track 4 we're back in the traditional Cape Vardean morna world with B. Leza's "Eclipse". Lura's band plays delicately, especially I enjoy Troy Vieira's piano. After the promising opening, something happens on this album. It somehow gets out of focus, doesn't really know where it's going. The song "Quebrod Nem djosa" is even some kind of funk. All in all the album ends up in a middle of the road Cape Verdean style. This is a disappoinment, I think Lura is capable of something more original. There's nothing wrong with this album, Lura sings well as always, her band is also, as mentioned, in a excellent shape, mainly with piano, accoustic guitars, accordion and violin. Lura and her band are able to deliver top score albums; the reason why this is not the case with "Eclipse" is probably that the songs in general simply are not good enough. But to be fair: About half of the songs keep a high standard, and among them are also gems like Teofilo Chantre's bonus track "Canta um Tango". And the production by Jose da Silva is superb.

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