李京倫譯
Some countries have oil, diamonds or cocoa beans. Cape Verde, a tiny archipelago about 385 miles off the west coast of Senegal, has music, and it is betting on that resource to help bolster its fragile economy.
This month, music promoters and producers from the United States, Europe and some African nations landed in Praia, the country's capital, for the Atlantic Music Expo, a four-day talent showcase that the government bills as a "music professionals meeting." They attended seminars, networked and hopped from one stage to another, joining crowds of giggling teenagers, dancing elders and excited children to watch aspiring local and international singers.
有些國家出產石油、鑽石或可可豆。塞內加爾西海岸外約385英里（620公里）的迷你群島國家「維德角」出產音樂，並在這個資源上押寶，靠它振興脆弱的經濟。
這個月，美國、歐洲和一些非洲國家的演唱會主辦人和製作人紛紛來到維德角首都培亞，參加「大西洋音樂博覽會」，這是高手一展長才的機會，為期四天，維德角政府標榜為「專業音樂人大會」。這些音樂人參加研討會，拓展人脈，並從一個舞台跳到另一個舞台，加入一群群咯咯笑的青少年、手舞足蹈的老年人和興奮的孩童，一起欣賞渴望成名的當地和各國歌手演出。
The Atlantic expo, which ran from April 11-14, was followed by the privately sponsored Kriol Jazz Festival, now in its eighth year, which promotes creole-inspired island music.
"It's essential to see people perform live before you book them, and there is nothing better than experiencing a music culture where it's actually from," said Paula Abreu, the director of programming for SummerStage, an annual New York City music festival. "You immediately know if an artist has what it takes to entertain a public of thousands."
4月11日到14日的大西洋博覽會結束後，接著就是民間贊助的「克里歐爵士音樂節」，開辦至今已八年，旨在推廣受克里歐文化影響的維德角音樂。
紐約市年度音樂節SummerStage節目總監寶拉．艾伯魯說：「在簽下藝人之前，先看他們現場表演很重要，而且，沒有什麼比在音樂文化發源處體驗音樂文化更好了，你馬上就能知道這個藝人有沒有取悅幾千人的能耐。」
Abreu booked the musicians Mayra Andrade, Dino D'Santiago and the Cesária Évora Orchestra for last year's SummerStage after seeing them at the Atlantic expo.
The model for many Cape Verdean artists is international star Cesária Évora, who put Cape Verde on the map of the music world with her renditions of mornas, the islands' ballads of love and longing.
艾伯魯就是先在大西洋博覽會上看到梅拉安德拉黛、迪諾聖地亞哥和西莎莉雅艾芙拉樂團，才安排他們在去年的SummerStage中演出。
國際知名歌手西莎莉雅艾芙拉是許多維德角藝人的典範，她演繹維德角情歌，把維德角帶上全球音樂舞台。
"Here, from the rural areas to the breezy beach towns, everyone sings and has a beautiful voice," said José Da Silva, who developed the Kriol festival and is the producer of the Atlantic Music Expo. "What matters is who works hard enough to be discovered."
Da Silva, a music producer who helped to relaunch the career of Évora in the 1980s, worked with the Cape Verde Ministry of Culture to create the Atlantic Music Expo, now in its fourth year. This year, the government spent about $227,000 to finance the expo, which also had corporate sponsors.
開發出克里歐音樂節、同時也是大西洋音樂博覽會製作人的達席爾瓦說：「在這裡，從偏鄉到微風吹拂的海灘城鎮，人人唱歌，也都有副好歌喉，夠努力的人才會被發掘。」
音樂製作人達席爾瓦曾在1980年代協助西莎莉雅艾芙拉復出，他跟維德角文化部合作創辦大西洋音樂博覽會，至今邁入第四年，今年維德角政府撥出22萬7000美元補助博覽會，另有企業贊助。
Together, the two events attract thousands of fans and music professionals each year and pump more than $1 million into the islands' economy each year, officials said.
官方說，這兩場活動每年吸引成千上萬粉絲和專業音樂人，每年為維德角經濟注入超過100萬美元。
