Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections, 2015.196.606c, Connecticut Historical S ...

Copy of "So Sabi" CD

Date1996; 2006

Mediumreformatted digital files from audio cassette tape - MP3

DimensionsDuration (side 1): 39 Minutes, 16 Seconds Duration (side 2): 28 Minutes, 15 Seconds Duration (total runtime): 1 Hours, 7 Minutes, 37 Seconds

ClassificationsInformation Artifacts

Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections

CopyrightIn Copyright

Object number2015.196.606a-d

DescriptionDigitized cassette copy of a commercially produced CD (detailed information in Notes) for reference and use in the “Cape Verdeans in Connecticut: A Community History Project” organized by CCHAP in collaboration with several Connecticut Cape Verdean artists and organizations, 1996-1999. The cassette copy will be kept in the Institutional Archive but not made available in online databases.

Handwritten on information sheet: "Freddie Junior/ Sarafin/ So Sabi/ Maria Nha Dimintina/ So Plod/ Minina o Marisenson/ Amor da Mae/ Mazurca/ Morna di Freddie/ Odjos Preto/ Flash's Medley:/ Lembranca/ Sacramento/ Sodade/ Lolinha/ Rosinha - a/ Mantenha."

NotesSubject Note: This cassette was copied from a commercially produced CD (detailed information follows) for reference and use in the “Cape Verdeans in Connecticut: A Community History Project” organized by CCHAP in collaboration with several Connecticut Cape Verdean artists and organizations, 1996-1999. CCHAP continues to work with Cape Verdeans around the state on several projects. The digitized cassette copy will be kept in the Institutional Archive but not made available in online databases.

“So Sabi” was recorded in 1996 and compiled and released as a CD in 2006 on Rounder Records. The tracks feature many of the most prominent CV musicians from the Massachusetts and Rhode Island communities, primarily; recorded at an important time when Cape Verdeans in New England were developing new public programs and projects inspired partly by the 1995 Smithsonian Festival that featured Cape Verdean culture. In 2024 it is out of print but is available in used condition through online sales (and perhaps through streaming services).

Information from the liner notes:
“The phrase "So Sabi" literally means "How great" or "That's tasty." So Sabi: The 1996 New England Cape Verdean Folklife Festival was held on May 31 and June 1, 1996 at the Boston Center for the Arts in the historic South End. The event was produced by Cape Verdeans and friends from around Southeastern New England. It was a memorable time, including a poetry workshop, a mastro raising, a student art show, kola dancing in procession, film screenings, craft demonstrations and a website. Many legendary musicians were booked for the event, most of whom had not recorded recently. So, in addition to a main stage of music, a recording studio was set up in the downstairs Black Box Theatre in front of a small live audience. Four bands in five hours laid down these tracks while the engineers scrambled. There were glitches; there were sublime sparks. Here is the result.

With the boom in world music it's easy to forget that some of the best music from "there" is being made in the U.S. Alongside the large number of Portuguese that populate Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts is a vibrant local community of Cape Verdean expatriates, playing the music the way it was played when they or their parents left the island, preserving and sharing the music with their fellow islanders and their new neighbors. This collection features some wonderful bands. Toi Grace and the Verdatones (you gotta love that name) offer a smooth and mellow pop style, heavy on the saxophone. Celina Pereira offers morna in a sultry voice over a simple guitar, bass, and fiddle backing. One of the showstoppers of the set is the hot fiddle sound of Alberto Rodrigues and his band, a real roadhouse sound full of smoke and whispers. All through the set are subtle variations on the Afro-Portuguese sound that has developed on the island and is now growing in the States. --Louis Gibson”

Additional materials exist in the CCHAP archive for this community.

Cataloging Note: This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-245929-OMS-20.

Status

Not on view