Multi-instrumentalist and composer Axel Krygier was born in Buenos Aires in 1969, where he cut his teeth playing saxophone alongside Kevin Johansen with the group Instruccion Civica. Though sax was his first instrument, Axel attained proficiency on many instruments, including piano and flute. He demonstrated this facility when at age 18 he bought his first multi-track recorder. For the first time Axel was able to record his own compositions, and without depending on anyone else, because he played all the instruments himself. From the early to mid-’90s Axel played with the group La Portuaria, though he dedicated himself to writing and creating original repertoire throughout that time. He wrapped up his time with La Portuaria in 1996 and dedicated himself full-time to the development of his solo career. That work paid off in 1999 when he released his debut as a solo artist, entitled Echale Semilla on the Los Anos Luz label, making its way to European audiences via HiTop Records. The project was showered with praise, being called “revelation of the year” by several publications. Axel had composed soundtracks for films and created backing music for dance companies for many years, but had not released those works in album format before the 2003 release of Secreto y Malibú. Having spent several years in Europe, Axel returned to his native Buenos Aires in 2003, where he formed Sexteto Irreal with longtime friends Fernando Sanalea, Alejandro Terán, and Manuel Schaller, a jazz-argentino improvisational group who went on to earn much acclaim throughout Latin America and Europe. Krygier revitalized his solo career in 2007 with his third original release, Zorzal. Recorded for Los Anos Luz, the disc was once again licensed and distributed throughout Europe by HiTop Records. ~ Evan C. Gutierrez

José Adelino Barceló de Carvalho was born in the province of Bengo, and left Angola when he was 23 years old to become an athlete, becoming the Portuguese record holder for the 400 metres (Angola was at the time one of Portugal’s five African colonies). He had already begun his singing career at the age of 15. Carvalho abandoned athletics in 1972, concentrating solely on his music, and immediately became famous in his native Angola, as well as in Portugal. After the Carnation Revolution in April 1974, he would become a hit both with immigrants from the ex-Portuguese colonies, and Portuguese of both African and European descent. He has released over 30 albums, singing in Portuguese and traditional Angolan languages. His tracks are a mixture of Portuguese folk sounds, semba, kizomba and latin elements. While Angola was still a Portuguese colony, Bonga was an outspoken supporter of independence. This led him to be exiled from Angola in the early 1970s. At this time, Portugal was ruled by the authoritarian and conservative Estado Novo regime government, founded by Salazar. Barceló de Carvalho‘s status as a Portuguese star athlete allowed him the rare freedom of movement, which he used – under the name of Bonga Kuenda – to carry messages between exiled pro-independence African fighters and compatriots still in Angola. When the Portuguese government and its political police (P.I.D.E.) realised Bonga Kuenda and Barceló de Carvalho were the same man, Bonga was forced into exile in Rotterdam, where, in 1972, he definitively adopted the name Bonga and recorded his first record, Angola 72. His iconic track “Mona Ki Ngi Xica”, which would feature on the soundtrack of Cédric Klapisch’s 1996 film When the Cat’s Away (Chacun cherche son chat),was introduced on this album.  A warrant for his arrest was issued in Angola for the seditious lyrics of the album, forcing him to move nomadically between Germany, Belgium and France until Angola’s independence from Portugal in 1975, brought about by the events of the Carnation Revolution. While in Europe, Bonga met other Portuguese-speaking musicians and adapted the sounds of semba to his already diverse music style. Wikipedia

Live concert

Deep House remix