Salif Keita & Cesária Évora - Yamore - From Joyjit Deb Roy

Yamore

Je t’aime mi amoré menebêff fie
Ene le arabylyla to much

Namafiye, namafiye guni yerela ba namafiye Niere a ná nifon
Ye namo kofue nerum silê don kile le, ina kola ahaha
Rile enela munuku mo sô
Nienama kofiye, soro falê é mo sonho mana osi koté
Nanana nekona, dê I lêlê fon

Je t’aime mi amoré menebêff fie Nê comf fop ach ari
Ene le arabylyla to much Xurin né bi feu J t’aim

Un tem fé, si un tem fê
No também viver sem medo e confians
Num era mais bisonho
Olhar de nos criança ta a tornar brilhar de inocença
E na mente CE esvitayada
Temporal talvez ta mainar
Na brandura y calmaria
Nosso amor ta vins cansando
De ser luta e resitencia
Pa sobreviver nas tormenta
Na brandura y calmaria
Nosso amor ta vins cansando
De ser luta e resitencia
Pa sobreviver nas tormenta

Je t’aime mi amoré menebêff fie Boi nhat zefiu, ermãos
Ene le arabylyla to much Boi etud nhiafieu, la paz

Xeritava pá, beru kuyê mobiliko yoi nhÊ
Ahaha rilê ene La munuku mo sô
In deburu ieu kordaine
Sank é noite a namo a cantor
Ê enela mulnuku mo sol
Yo sakenem mo sol

Un tem fé, si un tem fê
No também viver sem medo e confians
Num era mais bisonho
Olhar de nos criança ta a tornar brilhar de inocença
E na mente CE esvitayada
Temporal talvez ta mainar


Cesaria Evora, popularly known as Cize, was born in 1941 in the port town of Mindelo on the Cape Verde island of Sao Vicente - one of her albums is called Sao Vicente. She became internationally famous when she was in her late 40s and has recorded around 15 albums. To understand the style of her music one should read about the history of the islands:
The Portuguese arrived on these 10 uninhabited islands in 1460, populated them with Africans and Europeans, and governed harshly. The islands are in the Atlantic Ocean, 350 miles off the coast of Senegal (it takes 2 hours to go by air), were one of Africa’s first slave ports, and became one of its last nations to achieve independence in 1975. All this explains why the melancholy morna, sung in Creole-Potuguese about love, loss and sadness, is very much part of the Cape Verdean national identity and Cesaria is a true ambassadress.
Cesaria’s father was a violinist and though she does not remember him because he died when she was 7, her grandmother says that Cesaria used to sit on his lap while he played. Surrounded by music, she grew up singing with her friends in the suburbs of Mindelo. When she was 16, a boyfriend who played guitar convinced her that she had an exceptional voice and encouraged her to pursue music as a profession. After that Cesaria recorded some songs for the national radio station, and began to build a reputation. She idolized Mahalia Jackson, Billie Holliday and fado singer Amalia Rodriguez.
In the colonial times Cesaria developed a modest career performing in bars and restaurants, and sometimes in the homes of wealthy Portuguese colonialists. After Cape Verde achieved independence in 1975, many of the Portuguese aristocracy fled the new socialist government so Cesaria had very few occasions to perform.
Then in 1985, a Cape Verdean women's organization asked her to record 2 songs for a compilation CD. She went to Paris to record, and while there played some concerts. Her success in Europe was absolutely phenomenal.
Cesaria performs with closed eyes and bare feet, which she calls part of the 'national costume' of Cape Verde. She says that when she sings, memories play in her head transporting her to other times and places.

Evora has a certain fondness for cigarettes and whiskey, paying no attention to any claim that these might harm her voice. "I've had plenty of time to ruin my voice," she says. "And since it's not ruined yet, I'm going to continue." Cesaria is also the queen of the morna. Her songs are filled with longing and sadness with the acoustic sounds of guitar, cavaquinho, violin, accordian, and clarinet.
"Morna is like the blues because it is a way to express life's suffering in music." Cesaria is known as the barefoot diva because she appears on stage in her bare feet in support of the disadvantaged women and children of Cape Verde. Another of her albums is La Diva aux Pieds Nus, made when she was 47. Understanding her lyrics is not necessary because one can sense the emotions in her performances. Now a grandmother, Cesaria continues to record and tour and is happy about her worldwide popularity,
"... in all those years when I sang in bars and in front of strangers I sometimes had an idea I might someday be successful outside my country. The thought never stayed with me for very long, but here I am."
Her songs appear on numerous album compilations including 'Quem pode' with Teofilo Chantre (her guitarist) on Drop the Debt. There seems to be a strong link with Angola, perhaps because of Portuguese, for example Bonga sings one of Cesaria’s well-known songs, 'Sodade' (meaning Nostalgia). Cesaria has dueted with Salif Keita for the song 'Yamore' on the album Moffou and on her album Rogamar (2006) Ismael Lo joins her for 'Africa Nossa'.


Salif Keïta (born August 25, 1949) is an internationally recognized afro-pop singer-songwriter from Mali. He is unique not only because of his reputation as the Golden Voice of Africa, but because he has albinism and is a direct descendant of the founder of the Mali Empire, Sundiata Keita. This royal heritage meant that under the Malian caste system, he should never have become a singer, which was deemed to be a griot’s role.
Keita was born in the city of Djoliba. He was cast out by his family and ostracized by the community because of his albinism, a sign of bad luck in Mandinka culture.[1] He left Djoliba for Bamako in 1967, where he joined the government sponsored Super Rail Band de Bamako. In 1973 Keita joined the group, Les Ambassadeurs. Keita and Les Ambassadeurs fled political unrest in Mali during the mid-1970s for Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire and subsequently changed the group's name to Les Ambassadeurs Internationaux. The reputation of Les Ambassadeurs Internationaux rose to the international level in the 1970s and in 1977 Keita received a National Order award from the president of Guinea, Sékou Touré.
Keita moved to Paris in 1984 to reach a larger audience. His music combines traditional West African music styles with influences from both Europe and the Americas, while maintaining an overall Islamic style. Musical instruments that are commonly featured in Keita's work include balafons, djembes, guitars, koras, organs, saxophones, and synthesizers.
Keita found success in Europe as one of the African stars of world music, but his work was sometimes criticised for the gloss of its production and for the occasional haphazard quality. However, shortly after the turn of the Millennium he returned to Bamako in Mali to live and record. His first work after going home, 2002's Moffou, was hailed as his best album in many years, and Keita was inspired to build a recording studio in Bamako, which he used for his album, M'Bemba, released in October 2005.
Keita's latest album, La Différence, was produced around the year end of 2009. The work is dedicated to the struggle of the world albino community(victims of human sacrifice), for which Keita has been crusading all his life. In one of the album's tracks, the singer calls others to understand that "difference" does not mean "bad" and to show love and compassion towards albinos like everyone else:"I am black/ my skin is white/ so I am white and my blood is black [albino]/... I love that because it is a difference that's beautiful..", "some of us are beautiful some are not/some are black some are white/all that difference was on purpose.. for us to complete each other/let everyone gets his love and dignity/the world will be beautiful."
La Différence is unique in that for the first time Keita has clearly and boldly combined different melodic influences to produce a highly original musical feel, with a wide range of appeal. The album was recorded between Bamako, Beirut, Paris, and Los Angeles. This unique musical feel is reinforced by soulful pitches in the track "Samigna" emanating from the trumpet of the Libanese great jazzman, Ibrahim Maaluf.
La Difference won Keita one of the biggest musical awards of his career: the Best World Music 2010 at the Victoires de la musique.