Search - Bonga :: Angola 74

Bonga's first album, the politically charged Angola 72 recorded in European exile, was a landmark hit record that set the pace for acoustic African troubadours and set the tone for the successes of Waldemar Bastos and Henri Dikongue 25 years later. His follow up, Angola 74, was recorded on the run in Europe just as Angola's colonial government was being overthrown, and adds a more upbeat flavor to his trademark introspective style. Still using acoustic and traditional instrumentation, he is abetted by Guinean sax man Jo Maka and some of Cape Verde's finest musicians. Included is a version of "Sodade" (made famous by Cesaria Evora), a perfect vehicle for Bonga's raspy voice, replete with a thousand years of African soul in spiritual counterpoint to the "morna"-full arrangement. Elsewhere the inclusion of additional percussion, sax, and flutes provide a celebratory, if somewhat edgy, carnival feel that spins the compass between Africa, Brazil, and Portugal. Bonga later moved into a more cabaret mode of expression, so these are watershed recordings for Angolan music. --Derek Rath