BongaKwenda

Bonga Kwenda was born with the name José Adelino Barceló de Carvalho in the year 1943. He is a folk and semba musician and songwriter from Angola.

source of picture: www.mixcloud.com

Bonga Kwenda was born in the region of Bengo. He left the country, angola at the age of 23 to become an athlete. He became the Portuguese record holder for the 400 meters race. He started his music singing career at the age of 15.

BongaKwenda left athletics in the year 1972 and focused more on music and he immediately became famous in his native country, Angola and also in Portugal. After the Carnation revolution in the year 1974, he became popular among the people of the country and then among the European descents. He has released more than 30 albums, singing in both the Portuguese language and with his native language. His tracks are both the mixture of the Portuguese folk music, semba, Kizomba and the latin factors.

While he was in Portugal, BongaKwenda was an outspoken supporter of the independence of the country and that led to his being exiled from Angola in the early 1970s.

At the time of the Portuguese rule in the country, by the authoritarian man conservative known as Estado Novo administration, discovered by Salazar, BongaKwenda’s status as the star athlete of Portugal gave him the permission for restricted movement, which he used to transmit information for the pro-independence African fighters and compatriots that are still in the country, Angola. As the movement for independence in the country became high, he was forced to exile in Rotterdam, and it was there that he adopted the name BongaKwenda and recorded his first music hit in the year 1972, which he named, Angola 72.

After the independence of the country, the new Angolan government took the angola’s best solo performances and discovered as well as supported an orchestra named Semba Tropical. The main aim of this was the reawaken the lost music industry of the country.

After the independence of the country in the year 1975, BongaKwenda resided in Lisbon and lived for some time in Paris and in Angola.

Albums

Ø  Angola 72 (1972)

Ø  Angola 74 (1974)

Ø  Raízes (1975)

Ø  Angola 76 (1976)

Ø  Racines (1978)

Ø  Kandandu (1980)

Ø  KualukaKuetu (1983)

Ø  Marika (1984)

Ø  Sentimento (1985)

Ø  Massemba (1987)

Ø  Reflexão (1988)

Ø  MalembeMalembe (1989)

Ø  Diaka (1990)

Ø  Jingonça (1991)

Ø  Paz em Angola (1991)

Ø  Gerações (1992)

Ø  Mutamba (1993)

Ø  Tropicalíssimo (1993)

Ø  Traditional Angolan Music (1993)

Ø  FogonaKanjica (1994)

Ø  O Homem do Saco (1995)

Ø  Preto e Branco (1996)

Ø  Roça de Jindungo (1997)

Ø  Dendém de Açúcar (1998)

Ø  Falar de Assim (1999)

Ø  MulembaXangola (2001)

Ø  Kaxexe (2003)

Ø  Maiorais (2004)

Ø  Bairro (2009)

Ø  Hora Kota (2011)

Compilations

Ø  Angola (1988)

Ø  Paz em Angola (1991)

Ø  Katendu (1993)

Ø  20 Sucessos de Ouro (1995)

Ø  Onda Sonora: Red Hot + Lisbon, AIDS-Benefit Album produced by the Red Hot Organization, contributed the track "MulembaXangola" (1998)

Live

Ø  SwingaSwinga (1996)

Ø  Bonga Live (2005)