Waldemar Bastos, a veteran singer/songwriter from , recently released his first new album in seven years.  ?Renascence? (Times Square) is a lush, guitar-rich exploration of Bastos?s multi-faceted cultural heritage, which spans the cultures of , the , , and Porgutal, where he now lives, and beyond.  The album has a decidedly different sound from the spare ?Pretaluz? (1998, Luaka Bop), produced by Arto Lindsay.  But the music and songs express the same soulful blend of uplift and melancholy that is Bastos?s trademark.  On the eve of his Summer 2005 tour, Banning Eyre reached the artist by telephone in Lisbon .  Here?s their conversation.  Waldemar?s English has been slightly corrected for readability. His Summer, 2005, tour dates are listed at the end of the interview.

Banning Eyre:  Good to speak with you again.  The new album is beautiful.

Waldemar Bastos.:  Thank you very much.

B.E.:  Is this your first album since Pretaluz?

W.B.:  Yes.  This album comes at a different moment in my life.  Normally, when I sing, and compose, and write my music, I write about that moment in my life, what I see in the world, and people around me.  But this record, Renascence, is about the future, the new future for the world and for my country.  The perspective is much, much better overall.  It is a more positive perspective.

B.E.:  You have a more positive perspective now than when you made Pretaluz.

W.B.:  Yes.  Because I sang Pretaluz at a very difficult moment in history of .  It was very necessary at that moment that I sang those songs.  They are very strong, very profound.  But now, this is another moment.  Now is the moment of peace, and it is necessary for me to sing about the new perspective for and its happiness in the future.  That is the difference between Renascence and Pretaluz. 

B.E.:  Talk about the change in the sound of the music.  You are using more instruments, bigger arrangements, a string section.  Tell me a little bit about your conception of the music itself.

W.B.:  This record Renascence, for me, is more deeply of my heart.  Sometimes, three guitars played together.  They communicate.  The guitars talk.  It's the African style.  I revive the style.  For me, it is very important to renew this style, because it is a very good aesthetic of ancestral Africa .

B.E.:  I hear that. 

W.B.:  It's our ancestral style.  For me, it is very important to show the people of the world this style.  Because the guitars sing.  The guitars don't just play.  They sing too.  The strings are important for me too, because my father play the cello when he played in church, many years ago.  My musical life is long.  I played at parties, I played many songs?rumba, tango, meringue, church music.  I put my whole universe in this record, Renascence.  I put all the feeling in my soul.  On this record, I give more profoundly my knowledge gained over time.

B.E.:  You use very interesting guitar sounds as well, blending acoustic and electric, the electric played by Dizzy Mandjeku Lengo.

W.B.:  This man, Dizzy Mandjeku Lengo, and the bassist (Ahmed Barry), and the second guitarist (Toni Dudu) are really good, the best guitarists of Africa .  For me, it was very important to work with these men, because I really wanted Renascence to be a big record, a big gift of ancestral and modern Africa to the world.  Sometimes, it's traditional, and sometimes it's modern.

B.E.:  Tell me about the string section.  Where are those players from?

W.B.:  They are Turkish.  I love Turkish strings.  I listen to many kinds of music in the world, many strings, but I love the strings of , so I put them in my record, because it's possible.  It's necessary to make bridges between cultures, but truly, sincerely, honestly.  That is my perspective, my reality, my feeling, my soul.  It is necessary.  In my band, there are people from many different countries.  But it's natural.  It is not rational, but spiritual.

B.E.:  So in your band, you have Turkey, Angola, ?

W.B.:  ?, , -Conakry, , , , and .

B.E.:  Wow.

W.B.:  But natural.  Not intellectual, spiritual.

B.E.:  Let's talk about some of the songs, starting with ?Água do Bengo.?

W.B.:  The Bengo River is a mystical river.  It gives water to the capital of , Luanda .  This river is mystical because it gives food, vegetables, life, all year to both sides.  The river is very important to poor people and all people.  When a person drinks water from this river, they will never more forget it.  When you visit , the first time, you drink this water from the Bengo River , you will never forget , because it is mystical.  Mystical, but a reality in this world.  is a beautiful country.  This river represents mysticism, the catalyst of life, the beauty of .

B.E.:  How would you describe the style of the song, musically?

W.B.:  This song is first of all in my style, Waldemar.  In the second place, it is .  And all the time, it is the ancestral music of Africa, especially the .  I was born in San Salvador do .  So this is the ancestral music of San Salvador do .  So there are three components, the style of Waldemar, the style of , and the old reign of , long years ago, the reign of .  Centuries ago.  San Salvador de Congo, where I was born, is the first place of the music of Africa .  It is a place in , but it is mystical.  You'll find that many famous guitarists of Africa were born in San Salvador de Congo.  Many artists.  This place gets big respect.  I don't know why I chose San Salvador de Congo, but everyone born there is an artist, and many of them play guitar very well.  This town has given many artists to Africa, to Congo-Brazzaville, to , to and .  San Salvador is a unique place.  My preoccupation in this song ?Água do Benga,? is revival, just to show the people the good music of Africa , not commercial music but music of the soul.  Modern, but ancestral.

B.E.:  When we spoke six years ago, you told me that you like to have musical and rhythmic changes and a song, and that you are inspired in this by nature.  You talked about how whether changes all the time and Africa .  I hear that in this album as well.  A lot of the songs have musical changes during the song.

W.B.:  Yes, it's my feeling.  It's my interpretation.  I understand the beauty of the whole.  There is day, there is night, there is sun, there is moon, there is rain.  I put my interpretation of nature into the music.

B.E.:  All in one song.

W.B.:  Yes.  It's natural.  It's not geologic.  It's natural.  The style is natural.  It is my feeling.

B.E.:  Rhythmic changes in the middle of the song are common in Congolese music, aren't they?

W.B.:  Yes.  But all the music on Renascence comes profoundly from within my soul.  Many years ago, I had this dream to make one record this deep.  I said to myself, "Waldemar, one day you must make a record where the guitars sing, with strings, and with all the perspectives of your life.?

B.E.:  Tell me about the song ? Georgina .?

W.B.:  This is a song about a man who goes to war, but when he gets there, the war has stopped.  There is no more war.  Then, when he returns to his town, he visits his parents, but Georgina , his girlfriend, is not here.  This man is very sad, because Georgina has gone to another town, another man.  This is a problem of war, when the man returns, he does not find his girlfriend.  "Where is my girlfriend?  I go this place.  I go another place.  But no, Georgina is not here."  She has gone to another man.

B.E.:  A common story, I'm sure.  And what about the music this time?

W.B.:  The style is my style.  It is the result of my understanding about music, about many musics.

B.E.:  You bring a lot of musical experiences, and Angola, in Brazil, in Europe .  Let's talk about the song ?Pitanga Madurinha.?  Am I right that this is a song you recorded back in the 1990s, and it was a big hit?

W.B.:  That was ?Pitanga Madura.?  Pitanga is a fruit.  Madura is red.  Madurinha is very red.  The song is the same, but the fruit at this moment is better, sweeter than before.  The fruit represents peace.  At this moment, the fruit is more red than before, because before there was war.  Now there is peace.  Madurinha is more mature.  It is now more possible to live.

B.E.:  You have two versions of the song on this record.  Tell me about the dancehall version you did with Chaka Demus.

W.B.:  Yeah, the remix.  My producer, ?Groucho? Smykel, is a very good producer.  He made what for me is the big record of my life.  So I have great consideration for this man.   Groucho Smykel is a big friend of Chaka Demus.  So Chaka Demus listened to the music.  He loved "Pitanga Madurinha.?  So he sings.  Chaka Demus love this music.  That's the reason that he sings on the song.  For me, it's okay, a very good result, because Jamaicans, centuries ago, came from Africa .  It's a good connection.  Jamaican people, and American people, centuries ago, came from Africa .  So this moment, it is very important to connect these places.

B.E.:  What about the song "Dongo??

W.B.:  ?Dongo? talks about fishermen, about boats.  It's the simple life of the fisherman, a simple life, but a very strong life.

B.E.:  How about ?Sabores de Terra,? a very beautiful, slow song?

W.B.:  In ?Sabores de Terra,? I am giving the ancestral value of , of Africa .  It's about the towns, the good life, good foods, good drinks, it's full of ancestral references.  It's important for the world to recognize these things.

B.E.:  Telling about the music, that strong, slow rhythm.

W.B.:  The rhythm I use is the rhythm of my soul.  The voice is the voice of my soul, the voice of the mother of Africa .  For me, this song is very, very spiritual.  Deeply spiritual.

B.E.:  ?Twende Vossi? is another one with very interesting rhythmic changes.

W.B.:  Yes.  The song talks about the music in the south of .  It says it is necessary to stop the war.  is very big, is very beautiful, and very rich.  In this moment, it is necessary to work of the land, work the towns, work in the homes.  Peace in the land must become peace in our minds.  It is necessary to dance, to give freedom to the soul.  In this music, in ?Twende Vossi,? you feel the music of the south of , but if you listen, you will hear the good music of Africa, all of Africa .  If this music place anywhere and Africa , all people will understand.  These are the archetypes of African music.

B.E.:  You?ve done a new recording of one of my favorite songs from Pretaluz, ?Kuribota.?

W.B.:  Ah, yes.  [LAUGHS]  Because ?Kuribota? is the problem of men.  This is a man who is not positive.  I do not have good words to explain, but ?Kuribota? is about a man who like wars between people.  He doesn't loved friends.  He doesn't love normally.  He is a cynic.  Hypocrisy.  Jealousy.  I don't know, but I think it is very important to talk about such people.  When I sing in Europe , or other places, people who speak Portuguese understand, but when I play the song, people quickly connect, even if they don't understand.  The woman, especially.  This is a women's song.

B.E.:  The message is in the music.

W.B.:  You like the new version?

B.E.:  Yes, it is very rich.

W.B.:  Very rich, yes.  The guitars are crying. 

B.E.:  Do you go to these days?

W.B.:  Yes, I will go to after the .

B.E.:  When we talked six years ago, it was difficult for you to go there, but now you go often.

W.B.:  Yes.  Yes, yes.  But now, the people recognize me.  There is peace, and people are struggling for peace.  I am happy because people respect me and love me there.  People recognize my work.  People are very warm to me.

B.E.:  Do you perform there?  If so, where?

W.B.:  Yes, yes.  In Luanda .  I play in a theatre.  The first time, I played with many other artists in a stadium.  But afterwards, I have played in theatres.  I am happy, because the people have received me very well.  My struggle has been important for them.

B.E.:  Six years ago, you talked about your optimism, your hope for .  It seems like things are better now.

W.B.:  I am an optimistic because I believe in God.  I am optimistic all the time. 

B.E.:  It seems your optimism has been rewarded.

W.B.:  Yes.

B.E.:  I think Sean Barlow and I will be coming to later this year.  What will we find?

W.B.:  All the time, there are shows in Luanda .  At all moments, there is music.  Quickly, you will know the places, if you listen to the radio.  There are young people working in the radio, and 90% of the music on the radio is and music.

B.E.:  Really?

W.B.:  Yes, because the people love Angolan music.  This is good for the artists of .

B.E.:  So there are lots of singers, lots of performers?

W.B.:  Yeah.  Rap, many young voices, new perspectives, good energy, good dynamics.  But, okay, there are many problems.  Instruments, and all that.  But there is soul, strong optimism.  The people of , after the war stopped, my perspective is that the people's first love is God.  After that, it's music.  It is very good you are going to .

B.E.:  Thank you.

W.B.:  Thank you.  Bye bye.

Look for more dates in September?

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