2007年VOA标准英语-Cape Verde Musicians Draw Inspiration from Braz

By Phuong Tran
Dakar
16 February 2007

Carnival¹ season is a time for music and revelry, and not just in Brazil. In Cape² Verde, some musicians want to show that Brazil's famous carnival rhythms also have roots in Africa's musical history. Phuong Tran attended a rehearsal³ with musicians in Praia, Cape Verde, and files this VOA report.

 
Paola, singer in Prasamba
This Brazilian singer, Paola, and a group of Cape Verdean musicians headed by Pericles Barros, have been rehearsing every night for the past week.

Barros says his band, Prasamba -- a mix of the name of the capital, Praia, and the Brazilian rhythm, samba -- is the first in the country to blend Cape Verdean instruments with Brazilian rhythms.

"It is new among us in Praia. We play Cape Verdean music with the Brazilian beats," he said.  "I don't know, which came first. Our rhythm, or the samba rhythm. Samba came from African rhythms."

Cape Verdean music often has instruments such as the cimboa, a stringed instrument played with a bow and the cavaquinho, a small guitar. Both are also used in Brazilian music.

 
Pericles Barros, leader of Prasamba 
Barros dismisses critics of his band's style.

 "Some people think it is not very nice to adulterate Cape Verdean music with Brazilian music, but we do not have any barriers in our musical expression," he said.

"We emphasize our roots, but we acquire and we adopt other musical languages that [have] been developed, mainly in Brazil. We think it is part of us out there, so we [bring] it all together and we play pagode," he continued.

Pagode is a Brazilian style of music that comes from Brazilian samba and blends African rhythms. Popular in Brazil as party music, Barros wants to see it spread in Cape Verde.

"Lots of percussion⁴, lots of tambores, lots of instruments like this. It comes from Brazil, but we have pagode in Cape Verde. It is the same thing," explained Barros.

Prasamba starts performing Saturday, and will continue through the two weeks of carnival celebrations that take place mostly on Mindelo and Sao Vicente, two of Cape Verde's islands.

1 carnival   

n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演

参考例句：

• I got some good shots of the carnival.我有几个狂欢节的精彩镜头。
• Our street puts on a carnival every year.我们街的居民每年举行一次嘉年华会。

2 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

3 rehearsal   

n.排练，排演；练习

参考例句：

• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。
• You can sharpen your skills with rehearsal.排练可以让技巧更加纯熟。

4 percussion   

n.打击乐器；冲突，撞击；震动，音响

参考例句：

• In an orchestra,people who play percussion instruments sit at the back.在管弦乐队中，演奏打击乐器的人会坐在后面。
• Percussion of the abdomen is often omitted.腹部叩诊常被省略。