Lucibela

Lucibela plays The Sheldon Concert Hall & Galleries on Wednesday, October 21, at 8 PM. She's a singer from Cabo Verde, and her music comes from the morna and coladera traditions of the islands.

She was born in 1986 on São Nicolau, in the Barlavento islands of Cabo Verde. She started performing with a band in high school and later sang in hotels on Boa Vista, where she played covers by Cabo Verdean greats like Cesária Évora, Titina, and Bana. In 2012 she moved to Praia, and her career took off at the 2017 Atlantic Music Expo. Her debut album, Laço umbilical, is a 13-track set she recorded in Lisbon with producer Toy Vieira, who was Cesária Évora's musical director. The title translates to "umbilical cord," and the record is meant to tie her to her land and carry on Évora's legacy.

Her voice is known for its deep register, which she draws from Brazilian sambistas, and a thrilling vibrato. That low end is a good place to start if you're not familiar with her—it's a distinct sound that sets her apart from a lot of the other voices in the morna tradition. The set will be built around that voice, and the songs she's been singing since those early hotel gigs in Boa Vista.

It's a single-artist bill, so the whole night is hers. The show is at The Sheldon Concert Hall & Galleries, 3648 Washington Ave, and it starts at 8 PM on Wednesday, October 21.