AAA 100% Analogue This LP was Remastered using Pure Analogue Components Only from the Master Tapes through to the Cutting Head
Pure Pleasure - PPAN 540123 - 180 Gram Virgin Vinyl - AAA 100% Analogue
Pure Analogue Audiophile Mastering by Ray Staff at Air Mastering London
Limited Edition - Pressed at Pallas Germany
I was first introduced to Cesaria by an audiophile friend who seemed to possess every disc recommended by Harry Pearson (of The Absolute Sound). The music was always quite varied, well-recorded, and in the case of this particular disc, enjoyable to listen to as well.- Audiophileaudtion
The glorious Cafe Atlantico finds Cesaria Evora venturing into more Latin American musical landscapes, as opposed to Portuguese, which dominated her previous albums. Evora draws from traditional Cuban and Brazilian music to mesmerizing effect. The album is also a tribute to her home town of Mindelo, on the Cape Verdean island of Sao Vicente, which was once a busy port with sailors cruising between South America, the Caribbean, and Portugal. Therefore, the music is heartbreaking and nostalgic, warm and tragic all at once.
The masterful "Carnaval de Sao Vicente" is one of the most joyous, bittersweet party songs ever put on wax... "Roma Criola" is tragic, lonely, destitute, and always interesting, making for an undiscovered masterpiece of a ballad, and her rendition of the Spanish language standard "Maria Elena" is absolutely heartbreaking. The album evokes a moody elegance rarely found in modern music, from the sweeping opener "Flor Di Nha Esperanca" to the summery "Armor Di Mundo", and the picture she paints of this cafe at the end of the world is a gorgeous, multi-colored, and emotion-stirring palate. This album is nothing short of world class and will be enjoyed by generations to come.
A native of the island nation of Cape Verde, Cesária Évora was known as the country's foremost practitioner of the morna, a combination of West African percussion with Portuguese fados, Brazilian modhinas, and British sea shanties. After a short singing career in the 1970's, she returned in the late '80s with a string of fine albums.
Her 1999 album Café Atlantico (a reference to her home where she frequently entertained guests) is a much acclaimed masterpiece, finding Césaria Évora venturing into more Latin American musical landscapes, as opposed to Portuguese, which dominated her previous albums. Évora draws from traditional Cuban and Brazilian music to mesmerizing effect. The music is heartbreaking and nostalgic, warm and tragic all at once.
This album is nothing short of world class, and we're overjoyed to give Café Atlantico its very first vinyl issue
The glorious Café Atlantico finds Césaria Évora venturing into more Latin American musical landscapes, as opposed to Portuguese, which dominated her previous albums. Évora draws from traditional Cuban and Brazilian music to mesmerizing effect. The album is also a tribute to her home town of Mindelo, on the Cape Verdean island of Sao Vicente, which was once a busy port with sailors cruising between South America, the Caribbean, and Portugal. Therefore, the music is heartbreaking and nostalgic, warm and tragic all at once. The masterful "Carnaval de São Vicente" is one of the most joyous, bittersweet party songs ever put on wax (and was even issued as a maxi-single with fantastic remixes).
"Roma Criola" is tragic, lonely, destitute, and always interesting, making for an undiscovered masterpiece of a ballad, and her rendition of the Spanish language standard "Maria Elena" is absolutely heartbreaking. The album evokes a moody elegance rarely found in modern music, from the sweeping opener "Flôr Di Nha Esperança" to the summery "Amor Di Mundo," and the picture she paints of this café at the end of the world is a gorgeous, multi-colored, and emotion-stirring palate. This album is nothing short of world class and will be enjoyed by generations to come. 4.5/5 Allmusic
I was first introduced to Cesaria by an audiophile friend who seemed to possess every disc recommended by Harry Pearson (of The Absolute Sound). The music was always quite varied, well-recorded, and in the case of this particular disc, enjoyable to listen to as well. Although Latin jazz has seen moderately popularity over the years, Evora is more of a Latin folk singer. With this record she borrows from Cuban and Brazilian music with an interesting blend of tempo and style. As is the case on her other records, Cesaria’s voice is rich and beautiful and a pleasure unto its own. This disc, like the album Cabo Verde before it, charted all the way up in the top five records on the U.S. world music charts.
With the growing use of music streaming services I’d like the think the audience for world music is increasing and there will be more exposure to new music like Evora makes. Café Atlantico starts off slow and mellow and picks up the pace from there. There are some sad, sweet tunes mixed in with playful jaunts through rhythm and melody. The last tune of side four offers the sound of the accordion that is somewhat reminiscent of the music on the Amelie soundtrack—I just happened to have watched the film again recently. This record is great for an active or passive listening session and although the music will be unfamiliar to most, it is a great way to get a taste for some contemporary Latin music.
Musicians:
Cesaria Evora, vocals, 6 & 12 string guitar, cavquinho
Luis Ramos, cavaquinho, background vocals
Jacinto Pereira, acoustic bass guitar, background vocals
Jose Paris, piano, background vocals
Nando Andrade, drums
Calu, percussion
Tey Santos, tenor and soprano saxophone, percussion, vocals
Totinho, pandero, bongo
Silvano Michelino, kora
Conde djeli Moussa, accordion
Mastered by Ray Staff at Air Mastering
Album recorded at Studio Recall, Pompignan, (Sound Engineer Joao Magalhaes, assisted by Renauld Van Welden), except Flor di nha Esperanca & Perseguida, at Studio Harry Son, Paris (Sound Engineer Pascal Catet).
Additional recordings in Havana: album mixed at Studio Marcadet (except Beijo de Longe, at Studio Gimmick) by Stephanie Caisson & Jose da Silva
Selections:
Side A:
1. Flor di Nha Esperanca
2. Vaquinha Mansa
3. Amor di Mundo
Side B:
4. Paraiso di Atlantico
5. Sorte
6. Carnaval de Sao Vicente
7. Desilusao Dum Amdjer
Side C:
1. Nho Antone Escaderode
2. Beijo de Longe
3. Roma Criola
Side D:
4. Perseguida
5. Maria Elena
6. Cabo Verde Manda Mantenha
7. Terezinha
Personnel: Cesaria Evora, vocals / 6 & 12 string guitar, cavaquinho and arrangements
bau / slide guitar, background vocals: luis ramos / cavaquinho, background vocals:
jacinto pereira / acoustic bass guitar, background vocals: jose paris / piano,
background vocals (and arrangements on roma criola): nando andrade / drums: calu
/ percussion: tey santos / tenor and soprano saxophones, percussion, vocals: totinho /
pandero (carnaval de são vicente) and bongo (nho antone escaderode): silvano
michelino / kora (desilusão dum amdjer): conde djeli Moussa / accordion (terezinha):
jacky fourniret / background vocals: valerie belinga, valerie tribord, marie-paule
tribord, toy vieira, teofilo chantre
additional background vocals on carnaval de são vicente: fred, armandine, manuna,
nadine, john nobre, nedelise, yolanda, stephanie & calu.
beijo de longe & maria elena : tata guines (tumbadoras), tomas ramos ‘el panga’
(percusión in minor), emilio del monte (timbales), carlos del puerto (double bass),
franck emilio flynn (piano), barbaro torres (laud), orlando valle ‘maraca’ ) flute and
arrangements), lazaro dagoberto gonzalez (solo violin), aramis, yumuri & juan-carlos
estrada (background vocals), string section in flor di nha esperanza & perseguida :
lazaro dagoberto gonzalez (violin and string arrangements), daniel rodríguez
rodríguez (cello), julian corrales subida (first violin), gerardo rafael garcia huerta
(second violin), string section, horns and flutes in carnaval de são vicente, roma
criola, amor di mundo, nho antone escaderode & sorte: ariel mendez, augusto
carreras, ana julia feria, hugo cruz, genardo garcia, ernesto dias, omar pereira, alioth
castillo, mario fernandez, dania gutierrez, julian corrales, fresi garcia (violins),
raymond morales, leonel hernandez, roberto dias, jose domínguez (alto violins),
gladis la tamayo, arelis copello, alejandro rodríguez, daniel rodríguez (cellos),
andreas grana, francisco valdez (double bass), ridel rodríguez, alberto meneses
(trombones), antonio peñalver (bass trombones), enrique rodríguez, michel padron,
emilio heredia (trumpets), raul valdez, zorime mercedes, manuel garcia, daniel
peñalver (flutes), segundo mendosa, francisco santiago (Franch horns), Springs, horns
and flutes arranged and conducted by jacques morelembaum.
Additional overdubs recorded at Studio abdala, havana (engineered by alan martinez
de la cruz and evelio gay Salinas, and by Julio napoles sanchez and lexter fonseca
villan, for the sessions conducted by jacques morelembaum
Produced by Jose de Silva for Lusafrica.
Pure Pleasure Records
The Restoration of the Art of Sound
180g Vinyl Mastered From The Best Available Sources
At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Pure Pleasure all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records. During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existent tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.
A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.
We should like to emphasize that Pure Pleasure Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production. To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.
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Its tangible, you can feel it, see it, study it, muse/dream over it, it’s real, someone has spent hours and hours over its construction and presentation. Pure Pleasure Records is just that, Pure Pleasure and that is what it has set out to be.
The music and the physical record. Something to keep, treasure, admire and above all enjoy.Of course with vinyl it’s not just a record, it’s the cover, the sleeve notes, you are holding a unique package, produced by craftsmen.
Pure Pleasure Records bring you vinyl albums of quality Jazz - Blues - R+B - Soul - Funk, remastered by some of the best engineers in the world and pressed on 180 gram audiophile vinyl at what is probably the best pressing plant in Europe
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Audiophile Vinyl - Made in Germany For over 60 years the family business in the third generation of the special personal service and quality "Made by Pallas" is known worldwide. Our custom PVC formulation produces consistently high pressing quality with the lowest surface noise in the industry. Our PVC complies with 2015 European environmental standards and does not contain toxic materials such as Lead, Cadmium or Toluene. Our vinyl is both audiophile and eco-grade!
