FRANCE: ANGOLAN SINGER BARCELONA DE CARVALHO " BONGA" BRINGS HIS BAND AND HIS MUSIC TO PARIS FOR A CONCERT

Record ID: 391569

  • Title: FRANCE: ANGOLAN SINGER BARCELONA DE CARVALHO " BONGA" BRINGS HIS BAND AND HIS MUSIC TO PARIS FOR A CONCERT
  • Date: 1st June 2001
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (RECENT) (REUTERS -ACCESS ALL) SCU (SOUNDBITE) (French) BONGA SAYING: "The Angolan semba is like tango to the Argentines, or samba to the Brazilians, or rock to the Europeans, it's a sign that defines our culture, it's our own rhythm which has reached out across Angola. It was born in the capital and then spread all over the country."
  • Embargoed: 16th June 2001 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: PARIS, FRANCE
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVADPYUK98B1DCRATQ19JV3EKRJ5
  • Story Text: One of the most uncompromising voices of Africa has tried his magic on a delighted Parisian audience.
    Barcelo de Carvalho, better known as "Bonga" is the most well-known Angolan singer and the most relentless critic of the generalized corruption that is ravaging post-colonial Africa.
    His Paris concert is expected by many to have been the start of a long-overdue international recognition for the feisty singer with a voice that bears resemblance to no other.
    Born in Angola, he's lived in exile most of his life because his uncompromising lucidity has inspired him to attack with equal zest the scourge of the former Portuguese colonialism as the corruption of the marxist government that followed it. "After the things we've lived through, and their disastrous consequences, the conclusion is that one must fight, and we are here to say it loud and clear through our music which is sometimes militant, some other times with a message for a better future than the one we see today. Corruption must be fought, there should be no doubts about that," he told Reuters Television before going on stage.
    Bonga's latest album, Mulemba Xangola, is Angola's number one top hit and the government has not been able to silence the tender, racous voice nor the virulent lyrics denouncing the humiliation of a continent brought to its knees by abuse and mismanagement.
    Considered in restricted musical circles as one of the leading figures of World music, some critics believe that Bonga's lack of international recognition owes to the fact that his first top hit, Angola 72, came out twenty years too early, when World music did not yet exist, and that other figures who owe much to him like Cesaria Evora, Youssou N'dour or Ismael Lo, later stole the spotlight.
    Bonga's deep, melancholic voice with its telluric shades, and his sensuous hip-swinging on the stage stand in fascinating contrast to the militant tone of his lyrics, while the accordion, the percussion and the langorous cavalquinho create a voluptuous atmosphere where each song seems to beat at the pace of the very heart of Africa.
    ---ENDS-
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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