Lura

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More About

• Lura Criola
• Santiago
• Lisbon

Alluring Lura Criola has a gloriously rich, sensuous voice that's equally evocative sighing dramatically in the expression of saudade, the Lusitanian concept of exquisite melancholy, or frenetically dancing on the percolating Afrocentric rhythms that define the music of her ancestral homeland. Although she was born in Lisbon, Lura's family is from Santiago, the most African-influenced of the Cape Verde Islands, and she has immersed herself in its sounds, which generally are far more feverish than the better-known, fundamentally sad Cape Verdean style called morna. Lura's music has hints of Brazilian and the Caribbean as well as pop, made sophisticated by thick veins of global colors. On her wonderful new album, Eclipse, the latter surfaces on "Quebród Nem Djosa," which combines modified reggae rhythms, sly horns, and contemporary R&B-influenced vocals. Her adventurousness surfaces on the sublime "Canta Um Tango," an avant-garde interpretation of traditional tango done in collaboration with the group Kantango. Elsewhere, Lura's band matches the suppleness of her voice, steaming things up with accordion-driven funanas and incisive coladeras, as they'll undoubtedly manage again at the Dakota. $25 at 7 p.m.; $20 at 9:30 p.m.
Mon., July 13, 7 & 9:30 p.m., 2009