Formerly known as the Chocolate Islands due to the high volume of coco they exported while under the colonial rule of Portugal, the African islands of São Tomé & Príncipe, located in the Gulf of Guinea. The two islands have a unique, shared popular culture as well as a style of folk and soul music only found there. This unique culture form combines the influences of Europe, Africa, and the Americas and is known as puxa. This style took shape in the late ‘70s following the islands winning their independence from colonial rule. Refining elements of European popular music, with the studied reproduction of rhythms from continental Africa, and combining elements of traditions from all over the Atlantic trade routes, such as semba, merengue, kompas, soukouss, and coladeira, puxa is characterized by a vital energy, thin, high-pitched guitars, deep basslines, and ricocheting polyrhythms. Léve-Léve is the first collection of recordings of its kind distributed with in the US, and is named after a common phrase on the islands, which translates to “take it easy.” Party music for the musically omnivorous that comes highly highly recommended.
Grab a copy of Léve Léve from Bongo Joe here.
