Angola 74

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.com
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

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2007-04-19 rating:
A classic, only to be outdone by its predecessor
This is a great album. It is a classic of African (Angolan) music. But, in the end, I think Bonga's prior release, Angola 72, seems a bit more raw, from the gut. Maybe it is just the circumstances of recording (Angola 72 was a record of resistence, Angola 74 was a record of triumph). Since I don't speak or understand most of the songs on the records (except for Sodade, which is sung in Capeverdean Krioulu), my judgment is limited to some very touchy-feely emotional reaction to the sounds. Either way, in no way am I suggesting that there is anything BAD about this record. It is just that Angola 72 is really really good.

But if you are really serious about appreciating this great example of anticolonial resistance and freedom music, why not get both records? They really form two halves of the same movement - the struggle followed by the imminent the victory and are probably best heard together.

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