Lisbon-The Angolan musician Barceló de Carvalho (Bonga) received Saturday in Lisbon, the Prestige-Music Award, in the 25 years anniversary of the RDP Africa.
The gala awarded 12 personalities who stood out over the past 25 years in the Portuguese-speaking community.
The Angolan, the most international Lusophone African artist of today, has received several distinctions, including medals and gold and platinum disks.
Profile
José Adelino Barceló de Carvalho was born in Quipiri, in northern Bengo province. His family called him Zeca. He always lived in an intimate environment of preservation of Angolan music and traditions, marginalized by the colonialist domination present at the time.
Musical Career
In 1972, in Holland, he released his first album "Angola 72", in which he sings about the revolution and the love for his country. It was around this time that Barceló de Carvalho changed his name to Bonga Kwenda.
He adopts an African name that means "one who sees, one who is ahead and in constant motion.
Bonga performed for the first time in the United States in 1973, at the celebration of Guinea-Bissau's independence, as part of a show in honor of the Lusophone culture.
In April 1974, he released "Angola 74. In the 1980s, he became the first African artist to perform solo, two consecutive days at the Coliseu dos Recreios (Lisbon), a symbol of Portuguese music.
He was the first African to get gold and platinum in Portugal.
Bonga Brand
Bonga creates a fusion between himself and the music of Angola, making them inseparable and having as his main standard the semba, a traditional Angolan rhythm corresponding to the Brazilian samba, but a precursor of the latter.
Awards
Bonga has received several popularity awards and honors, as well as other distinctions, including medals and gold and platinum disks.
In 2010, he was awarded the National Culture and Arts Award, in the Music category.
In 2014, he was decorated, by the Embassy of France in Angola, with the insignia of Knight in the Order of Arts and Letters, and in 2018 the Angolan State decorated him with the Medal of Bravery and Civic and Social Merit, 1st Class, as part of the celebrations of the 43rd anniversary of the national independence.
He has shown his solidarity and altruism by giving benefit concerts for institutions such as MRAR, Amnesty International, FAO, UN, and UNICEF.
In addition, he has participated in CDs such as "Em Português Vos Amamos" dedicated to Timor, "Paz em Angola", and "Todos Diferentes, Todos Iguais", a landmark in the fight against racism.
He has more than 300 compositions of his own, 32 albums, more than 60 video-clips, seven movie soundtracks, and albums with countless re-editions around the world.
His songs have been interpreted by other artists, including Martinho da Vila, Alcione, and Elsa Soares (Brazil), Mimi Lorca (France), in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bovic Bondo Gala in Uruguay, Heltor Numa de Morais, and many Angolans of new wave.
