root salad Africa Negra
Bas Springer catches up with some veterans of the music scene in São Tomé & Príncipe.
he tiny island state of São Tomé and Príncipe, situated in the Gulf of Guinea 270 km off the coast of Gabon, is terra incognita on the world music map with the exception of África Negra. For the past 40 years, this leg- endary band have been the ambassadors of the dance music of these former Por- tuguese colonies. África Negra, renowned in the Lusophone African countries and its worldwide diaspora, created their own inimitable style of divinely mellow São Tomé rumba, with blissful hints of highlife and music from Cape Verde and Portugal.
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The music of São Tomé and Príncipe is strongly influenced by the origin of its inhabitants, who were brought there as slaves after 1471 when the Portuguese dis- covered the two uninhabited islands. Most of the slaves were deported from Angola, Mozambique and Cape Verde and brought in their own rhythms and melodies. Later, Congolese rumba and soukous and West- African highlife had a strong influence on the music of the archipelago, while local musicians also created their own styles like taufua or puxa. Although the official lan- guage is Portuguese, most inhabitants speak a creole language called Forro.
When São Tomé and Príncipe finally gained its independence in 1975 and became one country, bands like Os Quiban- zas and África Negra appeared. By the 1980s, Africa Negra had perfected their ver- sion of São Tomé rumba, immortalised in three albums that the group recorded at Radio São Tomé in the early 1980s.
Conjunto África Negra, as the group
was officially called, was founded in 1974. The self-composed songs were built around the melodic and languid lead guitar playing of Emídio Vaz, the steady rhythm guitar of Leonildo Barros, and the raspy voice of lead- er João Seria, who is one of two original members in the current line-up. Inspiration was drawn from the latest records from Gabon, Zaïre and Cameroon. In the early days guitarist Emídio Vaz just copied licks from famous Congolese guitarists like Fran- co, before developing his own unique style using a lot of vibrato.
Rhythm guitarist Leonildo Barros remembers that “In the very early begin- ning we played on wooden guitars and cans. Later on, when we joined África Negra, we became more professional. We played every Saturday and Sunday evening during the dry season, which lasted from June through September. Because there were no nightclubs or theatres in which to perform, inhabitants of the villages came
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together to dance in so-called fundoes, which means ‘bottom’. It was not a club but just an open, informal space where people came to drink and dance. It could be in somebody’s house or garden. People just paid a small entrance fee and those people who really liked the music paid the musi- cians directly.”
Singer João Seria: “People danced to the most popular rhythms of São Tomé. Our audience represented São Tomé’s different communities such as the Creoles, descen- dants of Portuguese colonists and descen- dants from African slaves from Cape Verde, Mozambique and Angola”.
Cape Verde and Portugal. Their music was released on LP on legendary Lisbon-based label Iefe Discos. Nowadays these albums are highly sought-after collectors’ items of vintage African dance music. The band also released their music on cassette and CD for- mats in the years that followed, going through several line-up changes through- out the 1990s, after the largest ensemble of nearly a dozen came to an abrupt end in 1989 in Cape Verde, dramatically splitting in two, with half returning to São Tomé and the other half staying in Cape Verde.
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After a period of inactivity, João Seria returned with a new line-up and a new album in 1999, and two years ago África Negra was reunited yet again. They are still
he golden years of África Negra date back to the early 1980s, when the band began to tour successful- ly around Angola, Guinea-Bissau,
using some of their old instruments which, miraculously, still work, and vintage guitar effects processors that ensure the original sounds of the recordings from back in the ’80s still shine through with their charismat- ic patina. They are now a band of six musi- cians (vocals, two guitars, drums, bass and percussion): as mentioned, two are from the original formation – João Seria (vocals) and Albertino (bass) – although one must always credit Leonildo Barros, the seminal guitar player that helped create the band’s sound.
“What keeps África Negra alive is the will
to play,” says João Seria. “We hope that our name will remain in the future. That’s why we are inviting new band members. Back in the day there were 11 members or sometimes even more, and some of them have already died. We still share the friendship.”
“When São Tomé and Príncipe became independent, people were very happy. Since then, too, many things have changed; we cannot even talk about it. We only want the best for our country. There are a lot of things to be concerned about. Even though we are promoting the island with our music there is no support from the government. What we really want is to spread São Tomé and Príncipe to the world.”
Barros adds that “We never sang about politics, only about love. We don’t like polit- ical songs. When Jesus was sent into the world for you it was not for politics but for love. It’s just like the way a father behaves with his children: you have to spread love.” F
earthbeat.nl/artist/africa-negra
Photo: Vitor Lopes
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