World Connection 43051
This is an album that invites much repeat listening. The first time around, it is Waldemar Bastos' semi falsetto that attracts all of one's attention. The next listening draws the attention to the complex rhythms in use, the third to the musical setting. And with the next listening session, it all fits together, with the layers, the flavors and colors matching up to perfectly blended allspice. Bastos was born in Angola and like with any colonized country, the dominant musical influences arrived with the colonizer, in this case Europe and more specifically Portugal. In 1975 when Waldemar was 28 years of age, Angola underwent a bloody civil war after which it regained its freedom from Portugal. Waldemar was fortunate enough to emigrate to Portugal and stay there. He lived in Germany, France and even Brazil for various periods, absorbing the different musical environments and recording his own music. Only by 2003 had the situation in Angola sufficiently stabilized that Bastos felt compelled to return for the first time since his exodus. This home coming proved such an inspiration that he had to cut a new record, a full seven years after his last one. Renascence reflects all the influences of Bastos' previous life in solemn beauty. Waldemar plays guitar and reco-reco, a Brazilian corrugated percussion instrument played by scraping. He is accompanied by a very diverse group of instrumentalists, prominent among them Dizzy Mandjeku Lengo on electric guitar played Soukous style while a string septet from Turkey adds some oriental-style symphonic touches. Even though the liner notes tell us about the various locations where the music, solo vocals and strings were recorded, the results are unexpected and dense. Perhaps this is another aspect of the universal approach to music followed by Waldemar Bastos. And universal it is indeed. The opening song with the strong guitars is full of hope and uplifting in its melody. Refreshing is the use of the Turkish string septet. Their typical oriental intonation combines in a very original way with the more Western wah-wah guitar before the song switches to pure afro-pop. These sorts of bridges are used in more songs on the album -- say with the horn section of an orchestra -- but never cheap or cheesy. The return of Waldemar Bastos to his roots in Angola is a beautiful example for how cultures, styles and traditions can be folded together to enhance each other in surprising ways.