Page 10 - as margens dos mares

Confluence and Virtuosity

I’m excited to be the musical director for As Margens dos Mares, a project that brings
together musicians from Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and
Portugal. It does what I love best: blend, explore, and combine fantastic musicians,
while sharing their music together and in the process, creating something ultimately
unique and fresh. As an American guitarist who has had the opportunity to perform all
over, I’ve always been fascinated by the diversity and originality that musicians create
indigenously, bringing their roots together, and translating them into the modern world
—a world that is a musical melting pot, one of endless diversity and virtuosity.
From Portugal, we have singer-songwriters Ana Bacalhau & Sara Tavares. Bacalhau
is deeply inspired by the cultural and folkloric traditions of Portuguese music,
with a modern perspective of her influences. Sara Tavares, a singer, composer,
and guitarist, combines her second-generation Portuguese descent from Cape
Verde with African, Portuguese, and North American influenced world music, literally
representing music from the edges of the seas.
Our African artists include Manecas Costa (Guinea-Bissau), Mayra Andrade (Cape Verde),
and Stewart Sukuma (Mozambique)—talented, innovative musicians who have a deep
understanding of their roots and the ability to cross cultures in a contemporary fashion.
From Brazil, we are jubilant to have with us three fantastic musicians: Ivan Lins, one
of Brazil’s most prolific modern-day composers and a celebrated international
artist; Céu represents a new and exciting generation of singer/songwriters and has
expanded her career to Europe and the US; Paulinho da Costa is the perfect
orchestrator of percussion, a legendary performer who is the embodiment of As
Margens dos Mares.

Lee Ritenour
Music Director

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