Bonga recorded his first album, Angola 72, in Rotterdam via the Morabeza label dedicated to Cape Verdean musicians. The album is a genuine masterpiece. Its ten songs, which are inexpressibly sad (although their heartrending melancholy is relieved by upbeat tempos), are an account and summary of his experiences in Luanda. On this record, says Bonga, you find all the emotions that filled my heart at the time, along with echoes of experiences that would later prove crucial in my life. For the arrangements, I chose acoustic guitar and dikanza and other percussion instruments. The music is semba, with numbers that switch from fast to slow, like spirituals. Bonga was encouraged by the critical success of this first effort. He added the sweet melodies of Cape Verdean morna and the rhythmic texture of Congolese rumba to his new songs. Two years later, he felt ready to record a second album, Angola 74, again on the Morabeza label. On it, Bonga sang Sodade, an Amandio Cabral number that Djunga had released as a single. The Angolan wanted to record it as soon as he heard it for the first time. Today, the gravel-voiced singer is still continuing on his musical path, enlarging a repertoire that remains rooted in the social and cultural history of a land that was ravaged for so long by unremitting war. It was important to re-release these two recordings. They have a place of choice among the finest of modern African musical productions.
