On My Hard Drive: Sara Tavares

Sara Tavares

People who know me know that I am a sucker for the well-played acoustic guitar. Especially the nylon stringed classical guitar. There is something so utterly sexy about a well-executed acoustic solo. Especially, it seems, when said solo seems out of place, as if it should have been an electric guitar or something. There are one or two Rolling Stones tunes that have that exact setup. Along with MANY others as well.

But anyway, I heard about Sara Tavares on the radio a week or two ago. She was doing a live interview in support of her new album, her third, called Balancé. She is from the Cape Verde region, and the album mixes african and brazilian rhythms in a way that makes everything seem just fine in the world.

Then she played her guitar. And I pulled into a parking lot and wrote her name down. She is a very talented player, and has both song-writing chops as well as a mastery of the acoustic guitar.

She talked about how the title track came to be. In Brazilian culture, the concept of "balancé" means that there is some sort of soothing rhythm to a life well-lived. Many of the songs on the album prove this to be true. Besides Balancé, the other striking song for me is "One Love".

The album is full of complex yet simple textures, and Tavares shows herself to be a master of these rhythms, her guitar, and a certain amount of her own brand of "balancé".

You should check her out for sure. I know you'll agree.