Original image by There Stands the Glass.
I’m accustomed to unsettling disconnects between artistic merit and the popularity of musicians. Yet as I listened to Lucibela from a front row pew at Old Church Concert Hall on Thursday, September 8, I couldn’t think of a single person who wouldn’t love what I was witnessing.
Yet less than 100 people purchased $30 tickets to hear the Cape Verdean vocalist and her four-piece band in Portland. Lucibela sings in Portuguese, but the language barrier is surmounted by her lustrous voice. Her remarkable instrument and winning persona invite comparison to Adele.
Performing coladeiras, mornas and boleros, Lucibela was enchanting. Members of the small audience sighed during the impossibly romantic ballads, swayed to the intoxicating uptempo numbers and gave thanks for being in the presence of an undiscovered star.