One of the most amazing things about this blog series “Fab Friday Find” has been the opportunities to discover new artists, shows, movies etc. I enjoy writing about my favorites, but l also enjoy finding new loves. One of our past finds was Bebel Gilberto. Thanks to some of the commenters, l got to discover similar music from artists like Melody Gardot and Chambao. As much as l would love to take credit for this find, I simply can not! This Fab Friday Find comes courtesy of Lili. Take a bow, Lili, your contribution is absolutely fabulous! :-). I adore the music of Mayra Andrade.
Mayra Andrade:
Mayra Andrade hails from Cape Verde. She was actually born in Cuba, and lived there for the first few days of her life. She is the daughter of a diplomat. Her family moved around a lot due to the nature of his job, and she has lived in lots of places like Angola and Germany. She moved to Paris at the ripe old age of seventeen and has been living there since. She sings in French, Portuguese, English and Cape Verdean Crioulo language. Her voice is so silky smooth. She reminds me a lot of the “Barefoot Diva” herself, the late great Cesaria Evora, another fantastic singer from Cape Verde. Her music genre is classified as “Morna”. Morna is creole style music and dance of Cape Verde. Instruments used include clarinet, accordion, piano and cavaquinho. It would be the equivalent of Tango in Argentina or Rumba for Cuba.
Since being introduced to her music, l find myself listening on an almost daily basis. I tend to savor music that is superb and timeless. This is probably why a lot of my finds are older, established artists. They are like fine wine. They get better with age 
. I can’t seem to fall in love with the newer artists of today. I don’t care about somebody’s milkshake bringing guys in to the yard or the anaconda (unless it’s the original of course, after all, this baby’s got back! ). I consider them rubbish. Perhaps l am just getting too old :-), and therefore “not with it”. She is on my Spotify playlist, as are the other artists above. I think if you like bossa nova, jazz and good chill music, you will definitely enjoy her.
Mayra Andrade has won several awards, including the Newcomer award on the BBC Radio World Music Awards and has performed in Central Park, New York, and faraway places like Germany and of course France. My only beef with her is that she doesn’t dance and let loose in her videos. I have a sneaky suspicion that she is a great dancer, but somehow, she is kind of reserved in the videos. Me?.. I would shaking my money maker .
Albums:
Navega
Storia Storia
Studio 105 (My favorite)
Lovely Difficult
You know what l love most about her? It’s the warmth in her voice, especially when she sings about Cape Verde. It is so obvious she has great love and affection for her country, and it gives me little goose pimples. You can check out more of her songs on youtube , Pandora or Spotify.
What do you think of this week’s Fab Find? What emotions does it bring out in you? Good vibes? or are you more of a Britney Spears etc. kind of person?
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