Musician Spotlight
Ary Morais
Cabo Verde / Norway
Ary Morais was born in 1974 on the island of Boa Vista in Cabo Verde. He spent his childhood on the island of São Vicente, where he began singing at age 15 and studied guitar the following year at Escola Salesiana do Mindelo. After moving to Norway in 1995, Morais released his debut album “Ka Bo Bayalthough.” In 2014, he completed his advanced music studies at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo. He formed Ary Morais & Band in 2014, and has released four albums with them since. Morais' music, sung in Cabo Verdean Creole, or Kriolu, features traditional Cabo Verdean styles such as coladeira, morna, batuque, and funaná blended with modern elements and influences from Brazilian bossa nova, Portuguese fado, and American blues.
In his track “Sonho Caboverdiano” (Cape Verdean Dream), Morais sings about dreaming of a return to his beloved homeland. Accompanied on piano, cavaquinho (a small four-string guitar), and soprano sax, Morais sings, “One is dreaming a dream of hope, one day the world is well taken / Come back to live in your beloved land / Oh God listen and promise, give us everything.”