The Atlantic Music Expo (AME) will take place over 8 -10 April in the center of the capital Praia, Cape Verde, Africa: its conferences, networking meetings, professional market and showcases will offer a perfect setting for international music professionals, artists from Cabo Verde and abroad to network, expand their contacts and activities, and discover the country.
Atlantic Music Expo is scheduled right before Kriol Jazz Festival to give the delegates the possibility to enjoy a broader offer of musical discoveries.
David Alexander is attending AME and will be sitting on a panel entitled;
THE ROLE AND IMPORTANCE OF RIGHTS COLLECTING SOCIETIES
Publishers, labels and collecting societies will all provide their perspective on this often complex topic in order to paint a clearer picture of how it all works.
David Alexander – Sheer Publishing (South Africa)
Gerard Davoust – SACEM (France)
Erica Smith – COSCAP (Barbados)
Daniel Spencer – (Cabo Verde)
Moderator Sipho Sithole – Native Rhythms (South Africa)
Sheer Publishing will be looking to add to its roster of songwriters from Cape Verde. Sheer currently represents Maria de Barros whose music transcends taste, preference and even language. It travels through countries dense with culture, picking up pieces of each along the way, combining distinct inflections of Africa, Brazil, the Caribbean, France and Spain, while allowing the tradition and culture of Cape Verde to permeate.
Melodies melt off her tongue with the same richness and maturity of a contemporary Cape Verde club singing Ella Fitzgerald, except that this songstress’s club is bursting with a taste of Latin spice, serving Portuguese and African cuisine with dancers to match and audiences swinging their hips to Maria’s sensual Morna and Coladeira beats. Although Maria was born in Dakar, Senegal and grew up in Nouackchott, Mauritania, her creative heart lies in the culturally rich Islands of Cape Verde, the birthplace of her parents.
Maria takes inspiration from things which fuel her heart: The love of her family, nostalgia of her mother’s voice around the house, the school children whom she sponsors in Cape Verde, the humbling of her fans and musicians and artists she admires, particularly godmother Cesaria Evora, “the barefoot diva”, who put the music of Cape Verde on the global jukebox. If music is food for the soul, then Maria de Barros is most certainly the chef. She takes inspiration from food and cooking too, but most importantly, life. Her optimistic outlook on life is evident in her music, as it serves as a glimmer in some of the darker times.
She describes her music as “a potpourri of African, Latin and European styles. It is truly a musical geography – but still very much rooted in the musical tradition of Cabo Verde.”
Maria’s musical canvas, with an undercoat of traditional Criolu daubed with bright flecks of Latin pop and African soul, is like a global triptych, made up of all different parts, influences and dialects, yet each piece standing alone, would be much less exciting or meaningful. The beauty can only be truly appreciated when all are perceived simultaneously – an aural masterpiece.
Maria seems to be following in her godmother’s “barefooted” steps with her global appeal. Her achievements include the Cape Verdean Artist of the Year, awarded by Cape Verdean Radio/TV/Newspapers in US in 2005, the Miriam Makeba Award for Excellence in Music, given by Radio DJs in the United States in 2006, and the Cultural Certificate of Merit awarded by the Ministry of Culture in Cape Verde in 2008. She has also hosted the “Soul of Africa” programme on BET Jazz television since 2006 while a song from her latest album was placed in the international hit HBO series “Entourage”. The recognition of this songstress’s talent is a testament to her global appeal and drive, which she hopes will help her in her strife for a better world.
Maria de Barros: Songstress, collaborator, explorer, philanthropist, cultural Ambassador of Cape Verde, feeder of souls.
More information: http://www.atlanticmusicexpo.com/