An Angolan voice in exile, 1972
Bonga
Bonga was born José Adelino Barceló de Carvalho in 1942 in Angola's Bengo province, and he first made his name as an athlete, running for Benfica in Portugal. He is often said to have held Portugal's 400-meter record. Under the name Bonga Kuenda he also carried messages for Angola's independence movement. When Portugal's secret police caught on in 1972 he fled to Rotterdam, and recorded his debut album, Angola 72, there. An arrest warrant kept him moving between the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and France until Angola won independence in 1975. He has recorded a great deal since, singing semba in Portuguese and Kimbundu in a raspy voice that is hard to mistake, and in 2014 he was made a Knight of France's Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
Bombay Café