158. Speaking Jazz, Cesária & Cape Verdean Blues with Kavita Shah

Speaking Tongues

Hello Language Lovers! Welcome back to a new episode of Speaking Tongues.

This week, we're thrilled to explore several languages through jazz music, the legendary and influential Cesária Évora, and the new album, Cape Verdean Blues with the incredibly talented Kavita Shah. Kavita is an award-winning vocalist, composer, researcher, and educator who deeply engages with the jazz tradition while advancing its global sensibilities. In September 2023, after seven years of immersing herself in the traditional music of Cesária Évora on the Atlantic island of São Vicente, Kavita released her latest album, Cape Verdean Blues, which has been described as "gorgeous" by The Guardian and "quietly riveting" by The New York Times.

In this episode, we discuss:

🎵 Kavita’s multilingual journey, starting with Gujarati and spanning languages like Spanish, French, Portuguese, Yoruba, Hindi, Cape Verdean Creole, and more.

🎵 The influence of her multicultural upbringing in New York City and how it shaped her musical and linguistic path.

🎵 Her deep connection with Cesária Évora’s music and the profound impact of experiencing Cesaria live in concert while living in Brazil.

🎵 The journey of learning Cape Verdean Creole and the cultural significance of the language and music in Cape Verde.

🎵 The emotional and cultural resonance of the concept of "saudade" and how it connects to her own experiences of longing and belonging.

🎵 The process of creating her album Cape Verdean Blues, including her collaboration with Cesária’s musical director, Bau.

🎵 The founding of Folkalist Records, a music label centering female voices from the Global South, and its mission to celebrate and uplift diverse musical traditions.

Thank you to Kavita for sharing your incredible linguistic and musical journey, your culture, and your music and our shared love of Cesaria with all of us. If you enjoy this episode of Speaking Tongues, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review the Speaking Tongues Podcast on Apple Podcasts and like and subscribe on YouTube so that other language lovers like ourselves can find the show! If you’ve been a long-time listener of the show or a recent listener, you can now pledge ongoing support for the show on Buy Me a Coffee dot com or on Patreon dot com. And as you know, I wrote a book! My food ‘zine of international language and cuisine, Taste Buds Vol 1. is available now for purchase! Check social media for the sneak peek inside of the book and make sure you purchase for yourself and your friends! Links to all platforms are below!

To Connect with Kavita Shah:

Website: www.kavitashahmusic.com

www.instagram.com/cantakavita

www.facebook.com/KavitaShahMusic

https://www.youtube.com/KavitaShahMusic

www.twitter.com/cantakavita

FOLKALIST SOCIAL MEDIA

Website: www.folkalistrecords.com

www.instagram.com/folkalistrecords

www.facebook.com/FolkalistRecords

Listen to Cape Verdean Blues:

BandCamp: https://kavitashah.bandcamp.com/album/cape-verdean-blues

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