Vibrant embrace of all things Cape Verdean

Maria de Barros came onstage like a colorful whirlwind of Cape Verdean exhilaration at the Getty Center’s Williams Auditorium on Saturday night. Engaging the full-house crowd from her very first note, she sang and danced her way through a colorful collection of songs rooted in the island culture of her parents’ birthplace.

Although the multilingual De Barros was born in Senegal and lived in Mauritania before moving to Rhode Island as a teenager, she has come to prominence as a highly visible exponent of Cape Verdean music. Her Getty performance, however, clearly demonstrated that -- although she is the goddaughter of reigning Cape Verde diva Cesaria Evora -- De Barros is creating an expressive vocal style that is uniquely her own.

Much of the material in her too-brief set was drawn from her second CD, “Danca ma Me” (Dance With Me). “Rosinha,” the tale of a woman awaiting the return of a lover, embraced the deep Cape Verdean tradition of songs associated with loss and longing, tinged with the poignancy of Brazilian saudade.

Other songs -- “Bo Ke Nha Boy,” Espaco Infinito” and “Riberonzinha” among them -- dipped into the traditional mornas and coladeiras that first came to the attention of Western listeners via the recordings of Evora. And “Sol di Manha” added the vigor of funana rhythms, energized by the stirring percussive sound of the ferro, which is nothing more than a piece of metal vigorously scraped and tapped with a spoon.

In each case, De Barros enhanced the traditional rhythms with other elements, sometimes infusing them with the spice of Brazilian sambas and Afro-Cuban salsas, always enlivening them with the dark, velvet timbres of her voice, her emotive phrasing and her sheer enthusiasm for making music.

Those qualities triggered effusive responses from the crowd, especially the substantial numbers of Cape Verdeans present, many of whom lined the sides of the auditorium and the edges of the stage in dancing posses, occasionally waving the multi-starred flag of their native island.

De Barros, after drawing the audience into singing a selection from her soon to be released third album, “Morbeza,” slipped into the aisles, winding up her engaging performance with up close and personal contact with her enthusiastic listeners.

Opening the evening, singer-songwriter Waldemar Bastos delivered several stirring numbers affirming his reputation as the “voice of Angola.”

And the evening wrapped on a high point with a characteristically vigorous blend of African and Cuban rhythms from Ricardo Lemvo and Makina Loca.