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África Negra

Booking Agent | Europe + UK:
Afonso Simões - afonso@filhounico.com

(PT)

Embaixadores do som de São Tomé e Príncipe e do "Mama Djumba", África Negra é uma banda de culto com mais de quarenta anos de história. Entre 1972 e 1974 - quando as forças portuguesas ainda ocupavam a ilha e a liberdade era parca - começaram a tocar ao vivo nos fundões da capital São Tomé, bailes ao ar livre que juntavam as diferentes comunidades locais. No início da década seguinte, editaram LPs de originais através da memorável Iefe Discos, que os fez passar por vários países, alguns dos quais Portugal, Angola e Guiné-Bissau. A separação que se avizinhava, em 1989, não era um ponto final: nos últimos 20 anos têm vindo a editar trabalhos novos e a atuar tanto em solos São Tomenses, como em salas e festivais europeus, dando-se a descobrir pelos colecionadores de coletâneas de música de diáspora africana. Com Antologia Vol.1 em carteira, compilação editada pela Bongo Joe Records que reúne alguns dos êxitos mais quentes da banda até à data descatalogados, em vinil e cd; estão disponiveis para concertos ao vivo. 2023 trará Antologia Vol.2, que irá reunir temas nunca antes editados da banda, extraídos dos masters originais e sujeitos a uma exímia re-masterização.

(EN)

For the past 40 years, África Negra have been indisputably the most important and genuine ambassadors of the music of São Tomé and Príncipe, an island state in the Gulf of Guinea off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. The band is extremely renowned in the lusophone African countries and its worldwide diaspora, be it Europe or North and South America, and are loved for their own inimitably style of heavenly mellowed São Tomé Rumba or Soukous, with blissful hints of Highlife, that their fans came to affectionately call as ‘Mama Djumba’. They originally got together in 1974 but their first recordings are from 1981, when they began successfully touring around Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde and Portugal, while the music was being released on LPs on legendary Lisbon based label Iefe Discos, records now very sought after on the contemporary global vinyl collectors market lean on post-colonial electric african music. The band also published their music on cassette and CD formats on the ensuing years, and went through many line up changes throughout the 1990's, after the pinnacle ensemble of almost a dozen (included a brass section and dancers) came to an abrupt finale in 1989 in Cape Verde, due to a dramatic parting or split of the band in two, half of it returning to São Tomé and the other half staying in Cape Verde were their following was devilishly overwhelming.
The group has stabilized their cast two years ago, which allowed them to play more regularly on their native country and increasing incursions abroad. They are still using some of their old instruments (miraculously they still work ), and vintage guitar effects processors that assure the original sounds from the recordings back in the 80s still shine trough their charismatic patine. They are a band of six (voice, two guitars, drums, bass and percussion), two of them are from the original formation: João Seria (voice) and Albertino (bass), but you also have to account for Leonildo Barros, the seminal guitar player that help make the band's sound, now living in Portugal. Since 2014 the band has come to Europe several times, playing key performances at such festivals as Wasser Musik in Berlin, FMM in Sines and Afrika Fest in Hertme. In 2019, they released a new album called “Alia cu omali”, their first in over 20 years, with worldwide distrbution by Rush Hour; which comprises a series of old classics that were never properly recorded, just “materialized" in live concerts in the 80’s, and were now recorded in studio between Lisbon and São Tomé. In January 2020, a compilation called "Léve léve" came out by swiss Bongo Joe records that highlights some of the band’s classic tracks, along with other important music from the island of the decades of 70 and 80. In 2022; the long awaited "Antologia Vol.1" came out, the first of two compilations highlighting the band's past; first one being already released tracks (from lps and tapes) and the second volume focusing on unreleased material sourced from the original tapes.

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Press
Freedom Spear
Voice Of America
Léve Léve

“A riotous mixture of rumba and soukous with splashes of West African high-life.” Financial Times ★★★★
“África Negra are just spectacularly, effortlessly on top, and every song is a flawless cascade of sound.” The Wire
“A joyous mix of Congolese rumba, Ghanaian highlife, Ivorian gwe gwe, Guinean gumbo…” 7/10 UNCUT.

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Video

África Negra Live in FMM Sines 2023

África Negra Live in Colombia 2022

África Negra Live @ Afrika Festival Hertme1

África Negra Live @ Afrika Festival Hertme2

África Negra Live @ Afrika Festival Hertme3

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Photos

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África Negra