Africa Negra

Irresistible African rumba by the band Africa Negra, who come from the islands São Tomé and Príncipe and have been renowned in Portuguese-speaking countries for decades.

For the past 40 years, Africa Negra have been indisputably the most important and genuine ambassadors of the music of São Tomé and Príncipe, the island state in the Gulf of Guinea off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. Their first LPs on the Portuguese label Iefe Discos are now very sought after on the contemporary global vinyl collectors market.

In the current line-up the band revisits the early sound, high energy dance music with vintage instruments: electric guitars and effects, bass, drums and percussion. Popular dance rhythms and genres such as rumba, soukous and highlife are mixed with humorous Portuguese lyrics and social criticism. A festive highlight of the Amsterdam Roots Festival!

Gabriel João vocals, Antonio Menezes, Leonído Barros guitar, Albertino Santan Afonso bass, Manuel Oliveira drums
DJ Alex Figueira (Vintage Voudou)