África Negra - Antologia, Vol. 2

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 202, November 2024.

África Negra
Antologia, Vol. 2
Bongo Joe Records (78 mins)

Bongo Joe Records and crate-digger DJ Tom B seem to be on a mission to bring wider attention to the vintage music of São Tomé and Príncipe. This is their fifth such album, and their second compilation from the group África Negra. While Vol. 1 of this Antologia focussed on the band’s greatest hits, Vol. 2 delves into the miscellany and brings unreleased and more obscure recordings to the fore. As such, there is a bit of a range of recording quality throughout the compilation, but no such range in the quality of the music within.

The core of the group’s sound is the intricate, interlocking melodies on multiple electric guitars, which knit together with superb acrobatic basslines and provide a bouncy backdrop for some glorious harmonies. It’s a sound based on puxa, a mix of local rhythms with a big dose of Congolese rumba, and África Negra have been playing their own take on the style – which fans call mama djumba – since the 1970s (albeit with a 12-year hiatus in the middle). This is another lovely compilation of sunny São Toméan songs, with África Negra proving that puxa must surely rank among the continent's canon of guitar music alongside soukous, highlife, jit and all the rest.

África Negra - Antologia, Vol. 1

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 179, July 2022.

África Negra
Antologia, Vol. 1
Bongo Joe Records (76 mins)

When it comes to vintage dance music from the tiny Atlantic African islands of São Tomé and Príncipe, it would appear that Bongo Joe Records, with compiler DJ Tom B, have struck upon a rich seam. With this third such album in as many years, they turn their attention to the one of the country’s most successful dance bands, África Negra.

The group first got together in the early 70s (when their country was still part of Portugal’s colonial empire) and they’re still going, having survived schisms and splits along the way. Their style is known to fans as mama djumba: it has all the loveliest elements of Congolese rumba and soukous with the subtlest of Lusophone flavours and hints of highlife. It serves to highlight São Tomé’s position as a midpoint between Central and West Africa, embodied in the sparkling guitars and heavenly vocal harmonies.

This first volume of África Negra’s Antologia presents music from their 15 studio albums of the 80s and 90s, and a volume of unreleased material is expected soon, along with a European tour. If you’re looking for classy dance grooves with elegance and heat, this collection might well be your sound of the summer.

Pedro Lima - Maguidala

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 162, November 2020.

Pedro Lima
Maguidala
Bongo Joe Records (36 mins)

After the success of their compilation Léve Léve: São Tomé and Príncipe Sounds 70s-80s earlier on in the year, Bongo Joe Records follow up with a reissue of an album by one of the islands’ most popular post-independence musicians.

Maguidala was first released in 1985 at the height of singer Pedro Lima’s career. His honeyed voice dances effortlessly among the puxas and rumbas as Angolan and Congolese grooves mix with traditional São Toméan rhythms. Lima’s band, Os Leonenses, are on similarly top form: the razor-sharp twin guitars of Leopoldino ‘Gúndu’ Silva and Rafael ‘Pety-Zorro’ Zuza tickle the dancing muscles while the close-thirds vocal harmonies massage the ears.

The album may only have four tracks, but it makes them count. Each track reaches towards the ten-minute mark, and each brings a slightly different flavour. The hot is balanced with the cool, the energetic with the relaxed, and everyone has just a lovely time.

When Pedro Lima died last year, his state funeral was attended by thousands of fans and admirers. His music and outspoken politics made him a hero in São Tomé, but what a shame that his music is only now reaching a wider international audience.

Various Artists - Léve Léve: São Tomé & Príncipe Sounds 70s-80s

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 156, April 2020.

Various Artists
Léve Léve: São Tomé & Príncipe Sounds 70s-80s
Bongo Joe (78 mins)

São Tomé and Príncipe isn’t exactly known as a musical powerhouse nation – Songlines has only reviewed one other São Toméan album in the past 20 years – which makes this particular rare groove compilation such an unexpected delight.

The country (the second smallest in Africa) is made up of a series of islands in the Gulf of Guinea. It’s perfectly placed to absorb all the sounds from both West and Central Africa, and the music on this album shows a lovely combination of Cuban-influenced Congolese guitar music and Ghanaian highlife with its own unique twist arising from its past as a Portuguese colony.

When I listened to this album, I was in the middle of a deep midwinter gloom, but by the end of the first track – ‘Mino Bô Bé Quacueda’ by Africa Negra – I was already walking with a bounce in my step. It’s brilliant music for feeling cheery, all sunshine guitars and major third vocal harmonies with just occasional dips into cheesiness.

Featuring nine artists across 16 tracks, Léve Léve presents the glorious and little-known sound of the equatorial Atlantic islands. The front cover is also intriguingly marked ‘Vol. 1,’ so here’s hoping we get to hear more São Toméan music very soon…