Patria Querida

It is not easy to sum up Sam Mangwana's long career and monumental contributions to African music in a few paragraphs. In a nutshell, from African music scholar Flemming Harrev's extensive biography on Mangwana on his Web site: "Long-standing bandleaders like the late Franco Luambo Makiadi and his T.P. O.K. Jazz and Tabu Ley (Seigneur Rochereau) with his band Afrisa International (formerly African Fiesta National) have established themselves as truly Pan-African superstars, alongside that special position only accredited Miriam Makeba. The only name to be added to this exclusive list is that of singer Sam Mangwana. Not only has he been a member of O.K. Jazz as well as African Fiesta/Afrisa, but he has also been cited by both Franco and Tabu Ley as their favourite vocalist. And unlike any other contemporary African artist, Sam Mangwana has travelled the width and breadth of the continent and taken musical influences into his repertoire from all parts of Africa." http://www.djembe.dk/sam/_private/sam/biograpy.htm Suffice it to say that for anyone who wants to start learning about African, and Congolese music, one of the first lessons must be Sam Mangwana. And this album is an excellent place to start, with selections from a broad swath of his career history. PATRIA QUERIDA came out in Angola in 2005 and was distributed only through Radio Nacional de Angola, where reportedly 5,000 copies were sold on the first day of its release. It contains two newly recorded tracks paying tribute to his ancestral, and recently readopted, homeland of Angola: "Patria Querida" and "Padrinho." The other eight songs are a selection of some of his many great hits which have appeared on various previous albums and were chosen for their appeal to Sam's Angolan fans ("Tio Antonio," "Minha Angola"), to demonstrate his commitment to pan-Africanism ("Bana Ba Cameroun," "Senegal," "Soweto," "Afogne" with Kante Manfila of Mali), plus one of his much-beloved signature tunes, "Souzana" ("Suzana Coulibaly"). A very limited number of CDs are now available only through CD Baby: an instant collector's item! When these are gone, please download the album here: all proceeds go directly to the artist. Thank you for supporting African music!