Music from Angola, Ireland and Mexico.
Bonga.
Bonga became known in Europe in the early seventies. It was in Portugal where Bonga produced Mulemba Xangola for the French Lusafrica label. This CD frequently contains elements of Afro-Cuban music; traditional African rhythms were of great influence to what later became known as salsa. These Afro-Cuban elements found their way to some of the African pop music countries, like Bonga’s homeland Angola.
CD Mulemba Xangola by Bonga. Label: Lusafrica (2000), code: 362272. Video.
The Bright Site of Life.
In 1988 Bright Site of Life began by playing bluegrass. Soon the musicians went searching for the origin of this music, which they found in the Irish tradition. (Bluegrass arose from the music of Irish people who emigrated to America.) Blue Dew On Irish Grass was recorded on a farm. If you listen carefully you can hear the cows mooing and the birds singing.
CD. Blue Dew On Irish Grassvan The Bright Side of Live. Label: KDR Records / Stg. Fermate, Zwolle (1998), code: M.S.Tuff-002.
Agustin Lara.
Agustín Lara was born in Mexico City on 14th of October 1900. He wrote his first composition in 1927, for his beloved. In the 1930s he started writing music for movies and went on a tour through Latin America. He composed Veracruz, María Bonita, Granada and more. In the 1940s he became popular in Spain and moved into a house in Madrid on the invitation of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco. In 1968 his health rapidly declined. He passed away in 1970 and was burried in the Panteon de Dolores in Mexico City.
CD. Canta sus Canciones Inolvidables by Agustin Lara. Label: Nuevos Medios (1995), code: 15 665 CDM. Video.
