Sara Tavares

Sara Tavares16岁时就赢得过葡萄牙最享有声誉的电视音乐比赛的两项奖项。做为一个非洲佛得角的第二代移民，她在两种文化中成长。
她的音乐生涯最开始，是以演唱福音、灵魂乐和Funk乐和作曲为主。在创作的过程中，她逐渐融入了更多她的家乡的非洲音乐在曲子中。1994年她录制了她的第一张专辑：Sara Tavares & Shout，1996正式发行这张专辑，为了介绍这张专辑，她在葡萄牙、佛得角和法国巡回演出。2001年她的第二张专辑Mi Ma Bo，由来自刚果的著名歌手和音乐制作人Lokua Kanza 与Sara一起合作制作，在葡萄牙获得了金唱片奖，这张专辑用葡萄牙、Criolo语和英语三种不同的语言来演唱，表现了音乐语言的多样性，专辑混合了非洲的节拍和旋律美妙的流行歌曲。带着非洲的色彩并带给听者触及灵魂的感动。
从1998年末开始，Sara Tavares决定为她的这张专辑重新开始工作。为了达到这个目的，她停止了演出， 着手研究她自身真正的民族根源和对她的音乐创作有影响的东西，并从中对自己的音乐创作进行自省。在这些深入的研究之后，诞生了Mi Ma Bo这张专辑，Mi Ma Bo来自Criolo语（佛得角语言），意思是我和你，这是一张有点私人性的专辑，在专辑里Sara的声音所联结的所有情感，都用着它特有的歌词和悦耳的旋律来表达。通过这张专辑，Sara Tavares不仅表现出了她出色的音乐才华，也体现了她做为一个作曲家和制作人的才能。也向人们证明了她在音乐上的日臻成熟，她的才艺和她所拥有的更长的艺术之路。
by Evan C. Gutierrez
Afro-Portuguese songwriter Sara Tavares was born in 1978 and brought up in Lisbon. Second-generation Portuguese of Cape Verdean decent, Sara was brought up by an elderly matriarch in her community after her father left for the States in search of a better life, her mother having traveled south in pursuit of the same ends. Sara showed great musical promise from a young age, a potential that was cultivated and bore fruit while Tavares was still in her teens. Winning the Endemol song contest Chuva de Estrelas, followed by a victory at the Portuguese Television Song Contest in 1994, earned Tavares a slot on the Eurovision Song Contest, all at the age of 16. Her winning song, "Chamar a Musica," was featured on her debut single release, Sara Tavares & Shout (1996), where Tavares mixed gospel and funk with her native Portuguese influences. Performing and writing songs in a mix of Portuguese, Crioulo, and English, Tavares spoke to her own lost generation of Cape Verdeans and Afro-European immigrants who searched to define their unique culture. Her sophomore effort, Mi Ma Bo, released by RCA in 1999, marked a noticeable change in direction toward Afro-pop. The record went gold in Portugal, announcing Tavares' arrival as a national star. After a five-year wait, eager fans were treated to Tavares' third album, released independently in 2006. On Balancê, Tavares penned all of the repertoire and added percussion to her list of credits, in addition to guitar and voice. Full of messages of hope and self-worth, Tavares' Balancê established her as one of the diaspora's most distinct and influential artistic voices.