A contemporary group from the small African country of Cape Verde, The Ano Nobo Quartet is a guitar and vocals-focused delight. Equally beautiful and intense, the group’s playing could spark a night of dancing with nary a drum or percussion instrument in sight, while resonating with emotion that transcends language. The Strings of São Domingos is their new album, released by Ostinato Records digitally on February 25 and two weeks later on 140-gram 45 RPM double vinyl in a matte laminated gatefold sleeve and 12-page booklet, and on compact disc packaged in a bookcase, also matte laminated, and a 24-page book. For global music fans, it is an essential acquisition.
Ostinato’s focus on the sounds of Cape Verde has been impressive. First to emerge was the compilation Synthesize the Soul: Astro-Atlantic Hypnotica From the Cape Verde Islands, released in 2017, then there was Grupo Pilon: Leite Quente Funaná de Cabo Verde in 2019, and after that, Pour Me A Grog: The Funaná Revolt in 1990s Cabo Verde.
The Ano Nobo Quartet consists of Pascoal (the leader), Fany, Nono, and Afrikanu, their name paying tribute to the legendary Cape Verdean composer Ano Nobo, who was mentor to Pascoal and the father of the rest of the group. These connections only deepen the set’s historical warmth, as The Strings of São Domingos offers a fresh example of Koladera, a music with strong Cape Verdean roots even as the Ano Nobo Quartet infuse it with a wide variety of styles.
These influences include, per Ostinato’s typically informative notes for the release, Salsa Cubano, Spanish Flamenco, Brazilian Samba Canção, Jamaican Reggae, Argentine Tango, Mozambican Marrabenta, and even Black American Blues. This might read like a chaotic hodgepodge, but it’s much nearer to a finely crafted Mulligan Stew, with some of the ingredients subtly integrated with the skill of a veteran chef.
A major reason for the stylistic range comes down to Cape Verde’s reality as an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean. Suffice it to say that life on the island chain remains far from isolated. Furthermore, Pascoal’s time as a soldier in the FARP (the armed faction of Cape Verde’s independence struggle) took him all over the globe, and was a considerable factor in the album’s scope.
The group hail from the town of São Domingos on the island of Santiago, which is where the album was recorded by Janto Djassi, who employed mobile studios in three different settings, indoors at Pascoal’s home in São Domingos, near the ocean and in the northern hills of Cape Verde, locations that increase the intimacy, as the inclusion of a handful of audio clips, a few of them non-musical, serve to heighten the set’s closeness even further.
The Strings of São Domingos opens with “Intro,” a distant snippet of a tune that’s fully fleshed out immediately thereafter in “Sociedad di Mocindadi,” with its ringing guitar strums and unperturbed but fully invested vocals. The following cut “Tio Bernar” opens with an exchange of dialogue but then settles into non-vocal mode as the crisp strumming intermingles with heartier string pluck. An alternate version of “Tio Bernar” extends and intensifies the tune as the record’s standout final track.
“Bandia di Flora” employs the same tactic but is even more energetic. “Maria Cze Bu Tem” follows, slowing the pace with a reggae foundation, adding some exquisite soloing and then capping it all off with a crowing rooster in the distance. “Canta Ku Alma Magoado” is a bit sparser instrumentally, as the singing comes into the foreground.
It’s in “Elefantes” that the cyclical strumming hits a fever pitch in combination with spirited jazzy flamenco motions and call and response vocals that keep the track from spiraling outward into the stratosphere. Along with “Maria Cze Bu Tem,” the closing “Tio Bernar,” and the wonderfully grooving and vocally rich “Mie Fogo,” the heated precision of “Elefantes” is a highlight. But in fact, The Strings of São Domingos never falters, continuing Ostinato’s Cape Verde winning streak with fervent confidence.
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