Recordar é Viver: Antologia Vol 1

This anthology provides an excellent opportunity to expand any record collection that’s light on the music of São Tomé and Príncipe, a small island nation that lies in the Gulf of Guinea, also close to the coasts of Gabon and Cameroon. Pedro Lima would rise above most artists even if he was born in those much larger countries. His songs primarily feature a Congolese soukous feel with a sprinkling of Ghanaian highlife, and Lima sings sweetly in Portuguese Creole. His blended style is termed puxa. Lima also worked in Angola and Gabon with his family band, Os Leonenses, recording solo works in the early 1980s.

Lima died in 2019, so this inspirational collection (the fourth in Bongo Joe’s São Tomé and Príncipe series) gathers together key Lima works, along with a clutch of previously unreleased tracks.

This is scintillating dance material that also provides substantial instrumental interweaving for the seated listener. The vintage recordings have a pristine clarity, with a prominent bassline buoyancy. The vivacious group vocals weave around snaking guitar parts, and tight percussion that swoops from frying-pan-sizzle hi-hat down to deep-kick bass drum. Vocal whoops make for an innate partying vibration. A fleet-tread pace dominates, but there are also a few slower swayers. This collection boasts an excellent balance and arrangement of voices, guitars, short synth solos, plump bass and percussion throughout. Lima lives on brightly while this platter spins!