{"id":3648,"date":"2026-05-27T15:40:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T15:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/2026\/05\/27\/greetings-from-cape-verde-where-the-sounds-of-samba-jazz-and-morna-fill-the-air\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T15:40:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T15:40:08","slug":"greetings-from-cape-verde-where-the-sounds-of-samba-jazz-and-morna-fill-the-air","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=3648","title":{"rendered":"Greetings from Cape Verde, where the sounds of samba, jazz and morna fill the air"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"storytitle\">\n<h1>Greetings from Cape Verde, where the sounds of samba, jazz and morna fill the air<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"STORYTITLE\" --><\/p>\n<div id=\"story-meta\" class=\"story-meta has-byline\">\n<div class=\"story-meta__one\">\n<div class=\"story-meta__one-inner\">\n<div class=\"dateblock\">\n    <time datetime=\"2026-05-27T10:58:44-04:00\"><br \/>\n            <span class=\"date\">May 27, 2026<\/span><span class=\"time\">10:58 AM ET<\/span><br \/>\n    <\/time>\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"STORY-META__ONE-INNER\" -->\n   <\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"STORY-META__ONE\" --><\/p>\n<div class=\"story-meta__two\">\n<div id=\"storybyline\" class=\"storybyline-wrap linkLocation\">\n<div class=\"bucketwrap byline\">\n<div class=\"byline-container--block\">\n<p class=\"byline__name--block\">By\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"byline byline--block byline--has-link\" aria-label=\"Byline\">\n<p class=\"byline__name byline__name--block\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/people\/g-s1-113589\/ricci-shryock\" rel=\"author\"><br \/>\n      Ricci Shryock<br \/>\n    <\/a>\n  <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"BUCKETWRAP BYLINE\" -->\n      <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"STORY-META__TWO\" -->\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- END ID=\"STORY-META\" CLASS=\"STORY-META HAS-BYLINE\" --><\/p>\n<div id=\"storytext\" class=\"storytext storylocation linkLocation\">\n<div id=\"resg-s1-124396\" class=\"bucketwrap image x-large\">\n<div class=\"imagewrap has-source-dimensions\" data-crop-type=\"\" style=\"--source-width: 1920;--source-height: 1080\">\n<p>            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/1920x1080+0+0\/resize\/1100\/quality\/50\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fd1%2F0e%2Fcc4e52fb4a73933be6fe96481029%2Ffarflungpostcard-rs.jpg\" data-template=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/1920x1080+0+0\/resize\/{width}\/quality\/{quality}\/format\/{format}\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fd1%2F0e%2Fcc4e52fb4a73933be6fe96481029%2Ffarflungpostcard-rs.jpg\" class=\"img\" alt=\"FarFlungPostcard_RS.jpg\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"credit-caption\">\n<div class=\"caption-wrap\">\n    <\/div>\n<p>    <span class=\"credit\" aria-label=\"Image credit\"><br \/>\n        Ricci Shryock\/NPR<br \/>\n    <\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em>Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly series in which NPR&#8217;s international team shares moments from their lives and work around the world.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Cape Verde feels like a country where there are more musicians per capita than most anywhere else. Music is interwoven with the sounds of daily life in this West African island nation. In the heart of the capital Praia, a city of under 200,000 residents, singers belt out morna ballads from restaurants \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/ich.unesco.org\/en\/Decisions\/14.COM\/10.b.8\" target=\"_blank\">morna <\/a>being Cape Verde&#8217;s traditional music, with African and Portuguese influences. In the capital&#8217;s outlying neighborhoods, older men are often sitting on sidewalks and strumming their guitars. The government even put the face of the country&#8217;s most revered musician and singer \u2014 Ces\u00e1ria\u00a0\u00c9vora, who popularized morna internationally in the 1990s \u2014 on the country&#8217;s currency (the 2,000 escudo note).<\/p>\n<p>Many of the musicians here have other jobs.\u00a0The journalist  J\u00falio Rodrigues, who I hired to help me report a soccer story ahead of the World Cup, is also a guitar player. <\/p>\n<p>Every April, Cape Verde&#8217;s musical identity reaches its apex, when Praia hosts two international events \u2014 the Atlantic Music Expo and the Kriol Jazz Festival. Last month, as a steady, pre-rainy season wind whipped off the Atlantic Ocean, the sounds of samba, morna and jazz filled the streets. I took this photo of Cape Verdean singer Ineida Moniz in performance at the Atlantic Music Expo.<br \/>\u00a0<br \/>A few weeks after the concerts wrapped, Cape Verde received good news about a special form of recognition: It will be the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uclga.org\/africans-capital-cities-of-culture\/\" target=\"_blank\">African Capital of Culture<\/a> in 2028. But for now, the country&#8217;s great excitement is about sports. For the first time, Cape Verde&#8217;s national team \u2014 the second smallest nation by population ever to qualify \u2014 has reached the World Cup.<\/p>\n<p><strong>See more Far-Flung Postcards from around the world:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"edTag edTag edTag edTag edTag edTag edTag edTag edTag rte2-style-ul\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2026\/05\/20\/g-s1-122603\/bali-indonesia-kecak-dance-ramayana\" target=\"_blank\">Greetings from Bali, where a kecak dance shows the triumph of good over evil<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2026\/05\/13\/g-s1-121409\/seville-spain-snails-caracoles\" target=\"_blank\">Greetings from Seville, where springtime means caracoles<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2026\/05\/06\/g-s1-119852\/indonesia-mangrove-conservation-fishing-sulawesi-bajau\" target=\"_blank\">Greetings from a sea village in Indonesia, where Indigenous fishing gets help from mangroves<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2026\/04\/29\/g-s1-118663\/syria-olive-harvest-homs\" target=\"_blank\">Greetings from Syria, where a postwar olive harvest offers a long-lost taste of home<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tags\">\n<ul>\n<li><a class=\"tag tag--story\" href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/tags\/g-s1-120852\/cape-verde\">CAPE VERDE<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"tag tag--story\" href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/tags\/129553131\/music\">Music<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"TAGS\" --><\/p>\n<div class=\"share-tools share-tools--secondary\" aria-label=\"Share tools\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"share-tools__service share-tools__service--facebook\"><button class=\"fbStoryg-s1-124325\" data-share-facebook='{\"storyId\": \"g-s1-124325\" }' data-metrics-ga4='{\"category\":\"share\",\"action\":\"share\",\"clickName\":\"facebook\"}'><b class=\"share-tools__service-name\">Facebook<\/b><\/button><\/li>\n<li class=\"share-tools__service share-tools__service--flipboard\"><button class=\"storyg-s1-124325\" data-share-flipboard='{\"storyId\": \"g-s1-124325\" }' data-metrics-ga4='{\"category\":\"share\",\"action\":\"share\",\"clickName\":\"flipboard\"}'><b class=\"share-tools__service-name\">Flipboard<\/b><\/button><\/li>\n<li class=\"share-tools__service share-tools__service--email\"><button class=\"share-tools__email-link\" data-story-id=\"g-s1-124325\" data-metrics-ga4='{\"category\":\"share\",\"action\":\"share\",\"clickName\":\"email\"}'><b class=\"share-tools__service-name\">Email<\/b><\/button><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"SHARE-TOOLS SHARE-TOOLS-SECONDARY\" ARIA-LABEL=\"SHARE TOOLS\" --><br \/>\n<!-- END ID=\"NEWSLETTER-ACQUISITION-CALLOUT-DATA\" DATA-NEWSLETTER=\"{&amp;QUOT;NEWSLETTERID&amp;QUOT;:&amp;QUOT;NEWS&amp;QUOT;,&amp;QUOT;TITLE&amp;QUOT;:&amp;QUOT;UP FIRST&amp;QUOT;,&amp;QUOT;MARKETINGHEADER&amp;QUOT;:&amp;QUOT;SIGN UP FOR NPR&#039;S UP FIRST NEWSLETTER&amp;QUOT;,&amp;QUOT;FREQUENCY&amp;QUOT;:&amp;QUOT;EVERY DAY&amp;QUOT;,&amp;QUOT;SHORTDESCRIPTION&amp;QUOT;:&amp;QUOT;THE STORIES YOU NEED TO START YOUR DAY, HAND-PICKED FOR YOU EVERY WEEKDAY. 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