Underrated Talent: Sara Tavares

Okay, okay, so Sara Tavares has been on the scene for a while now. I know for a fact that most you have not heard of her. I'd never heard of her until I happened upon a sample playlist of her music while perusing Amazon.com a couple of months back. But in the hopeless wilderness that is the current music industry, Ms. Tavares is tall glass of cool water. I mentioned her name to a Portuguese colleague of mine who told me that she is super popular in Portugual and Cape Verde. I have to say that I love, love, love her music. If I were to describe the genre of music she sings it would be a mish mash of pop, folk, soul & Afrobeat. She mostly sings in Portuguese- a language I don't completely understand, but her voice is beautiful and her music is so cheerful that even if you don't quite understand what she is singing, you'll want to learn Portuguese just to groove to it earnestly.

Her last studio album, Balancê, was released in 2006 and I believe she is currently working on new material. Ms. Tavares was born in Portugual to Cape Verdean parents in 1978. She rocketed to fame in her native country in the mid-nineties after winning the Portuguese equivalent to American Idol. Please pull out a lawn chair and pour yourself cold glass of lemonade, check her music out and let me know what you think. I guarantee her tunes will be on your heavy rotation lists!

My favourite songs: Balancê, Bom Feeling, One Love, Poka Terra

Watch her Balancê video: