Mar Azul

Cesaria Evora

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 2, 1999)
• Original Release Date: 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Elektra / Wea
• ASIN: B00000I6FE
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #270,973 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #41 in

  Music > World Music > Africa > Cape Verde

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording
In 1991, just a year before she hit it big in Europe with Miss Perfumado, Cesaria Evora hit her stride in Paris with this warm and wonderful recording of morna music from Cape Verde. Produced with a light touch by José de Silva, Mar Azul is still close to the nightclub, to the smoke and whiskey roots of her music as she sang it back home; the great band seamlessly mixes jazz, blues, swing, Latin, and African music into something unique for its time. It is lush yet simple, beautiful and gritty and clean, and totally about this voice. An acoustic guitar or piano rules each track, with bass, light percussion, and touches of violin, clarinet, harmonica, or horn just brushing up against it. This is really where Evora developed comparisons to Billy Holiday, in her ability to sound both fragile and tough. Like classic jazz-blues, this music is about pain and elegance, expressed through a voice that convinces you she has seen both and often can't tell the difference. --Louis Gibson

Entertainment Weekly
Evora's gift for conveying vulnerability across language and culture is astonishing.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CESARIA'S BEST?, December 19, 2000

By	Andy Todes (Haddonfield, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

As someone who lovingly possesses all of Cesaria Evora's albums, I am tempted to call "Mar Azul" her best. It's certainly the best introduction to a wonderful artist, a true world treasure. "Miss Perfumado" is a close second, and "Cabo Verde" is superb. But for seductive dreaminess it's "Mar Azul" all the way.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just A Beautiful Album, June 27, 2002

By	Martin Lemos "Marty" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mar Azul (Audio CD)

MAR AZUL by CESARIA EVORA is just a beautiful cd that I havent stopped listening to since I bought it a few weeks ago. I have 5 of her cd's and I like nothing better to do than just lie back and relax and listen to her music. When I hear her voice and the music, I few that I am being trasported to a different land far from where I presently am. I have to say, it is her voice that truly stands out on her albums. Some have compared her to
Billie Holiday, and I think that might be a fair comparison. I can't think of any weak spots on this album, each songs is just so great. This is a must have for any serious music fan. I also recommend CAFE ATLANTICO and CABO VERDE to add to your collection. I dont think that you will be disappointed.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars how detroit taught me to love cesaria evora, September 10, 1999

By	[e-mail] (brooklyn) - See all my reviews

i fell in love with cesaria evora during my years of graduate studies in detroit. perhaps it was the general romantic-dismal mood of most midwestern cities (detroit falling more towards dismal than romantic) that brought me to appreciate the sweet melancholy sound of her voice. a woman who travelled to paris from cabo verde, a small island off the coast of west africa, subsequently winning the hearts of the french and soon the hearts of many people throughout the world.

in an epoch of the 'gorgeous pre-pubescent nymphette singer/songwriters' its wonderful to hear from an artist whose voice transcends the superficial boundaries of media-hype. an elder three-hundered pound dark-skinned island woman who i once only recognized as 'the barefoot diva'