AtoZ
This month…
P42 BRIGHT EYES
P43 NEIL YOUNG
P44 SANDY DENNY
P45 ROBERT FRIPP
P46 TERRY ALLEN
P46 ROXY MUSIC
P48 SPARKS
P49 XTC
AFRICA NEGRA
Antologia Vol 1
BONGOJOE
7/10
Compilation of ’70s and ’80s recordings from João Sería’s São Toméan guitar gods
Africa’s island nations usually comprise populations drawn from all over the African continent, and their music and culture often reflect this diversity. This compilation of 1970s and ’80s music from Africa Negra, the most enduring outfit from the Atlantic island of São Tomé & Principe, shows them taking influence from all over Africa and beyond. Under the leadership of João Sería and his fellow guitarists Leonildo Barros, Armando Tito and Antonio Teixeira, Africa Negra drew from various African guitar styles –a joyous mix of Congolese rumba, Ghanaian highlife, Ivorian gwe gwe, Guinean gumbe and so on. These sparkling, multilayered guitars provide the bedrock for infectious vocal harmonies and call-and-response chants. The wahwah-heavy “Vence Vitória” and the slinky jit jive of “Carambola” are both irresistibly catchy masterclasses in pan-African guitar playing, while on tracks like “Quá Na Buá Néga Fá” you can even hear rhythmic elements from Brazil, Cuba and Haiti.