Eneida Marta - Ibra (2019)

Many elements go into Eneida Marta’s songs, but her voice carries such an elegant sense of balance that everything seems like one thing: Music that links traditional sounds of her country, Guinea-Bissau, with contemporary styles; messages that marry regret and hope; an artist’s life inseparable from a larger sense of mission. Whether her words float like waves lapping tranquil African beaches or dance lightly to pulsing rhythms, she keeps all the pieces in harmony. Born into a musical family, Marta followed a crooked road to her own career. Like many of her countrymen she spent years in Portugal before returning home; motherhood ended her dream of becoming a police officer and she ultimately pursued her backup plan—singing. Her songs seem at least partly born of experience, sharpening the radiance of her fifth album and highlighting what makes her the voice of her nation. On Ibra, Marta explores—in Guinea-Bissau Creole—struggle and joy, greed and sharing, fleeting love, family intimacy and outsider loneliness. And as she sings, she advances the cause that underlines her music: Making a difference for children. She has served as a UNICEF ambassador and campaigned against child marriage; here she addresses absent fathers in Homis Di Gossi (Today’s Men), an aching but pointed cry to dads who brag about their offspring but play no role in raising them (video 1). She converses with God in the magnificent Alma na Fala (Soul in My Speech, video 2) and examines the profane in Dur Di Kutubel (Sour Grapes, video 3). Colônia (Colony, video 4) describes the impact of exiled family and friends. Sadly, Marta produced her latest work without her career-long friend and colleague, the kora virtuoso Ibrahim Galissa, who died just as she began recording. So she gave the album his name, to fill the void, and restore a sense of balance. (Ocarina-ALG Eventos)

Eneida Marta: Ibra
Eneida Marta: Vocals
Ze Manél Fortes: Vocals
Gogui, Athnase Koudou: Bass guitar
Eliseu Forna, Manecas Costa, Athanase Koudou, Tony Dudu: Guitar
Ricardo Gordo: Portuguese guitar
Athanase Koudou, Laurent Noa: Piano
Pé Gudo: Percurssão: Drums
Davide Zecaria: Cello
Fernando Carlos (N ́du): Drums

Guest artists:
Ze Manél, Missy Bitty

01 - Alma na Fala
02 - Kargu Garandi
03 - Koitadi
04 - Faromparia
05 - Ali Nichiga
06 - Amor
07 - Sunhu
08 - Dur Di Kutubel
09 - Homis Di Gossis
10 - Colônia
11 - Pena
12 - Paulo Nanki