Waldemar dos Santos Alonso de Almeida Bastos (January 4, 1954 – August 10, 2020) was an Angolan musician who combined Afropop,

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

(

fado Fado (; "destiny, fate") is a music genre that can be traced to the 1820s in Lisbon, Portugal, but probably has much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar Rui Vieira Nery states that "the only reliable information on the history of fado was ...

), and Brazilian influences.

History

He was born in the Portuguese

Overseas Province of Angola Overseas may refer to: * ''Overseas'' (album), a 1957 album by pianist Tommy Flanagan and his trio * Overseas (band), an American indie rock band * "Overseas" (song), a 2018 song by American rappers Desiigner and Lil Pump * "Overseas" (Tee Grizzley ...

's town of São Salvador do Congo (now M'banza-Kongo) from black parents who were both nurses. He started singing at a very early age using his father's instruments. After the independence of Angola in 1975 due to the events of the Carnation Revolution in Lisbon, at the age of 28 (in 1982) he fled the

People's Republic of Angola The People's Republic of Angola () was the self-declared socialist state which governed Angola from its independence in 1975 until 25 August 1992, during the Angolan Civil War. History The regime was established in 1975, after Portuguese A ...

for

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. He emigrated to Portugal in order to escape the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

between the Marxist

Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola ( pt, Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola, Abbreviation, abbr. MPLA), for some years called the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola – Labour Party (), is an Angolan left-wi ...

regime and the Western-backed

National Union for Total Independence of Angola The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola ( pt, União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola, abbr. UNITA) is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought alongside the Popular Movement for ...

. Waldemar Bastos died on August 9, 2020, in Lisbon, victim of cancer, at the age of 66, said a source from the communication office of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Environment of Angola.

Discography

* ''Estamos Juntos'' (EMI Records Ltd., 1982) * ''Angola Minha Namorada'' (EMI Portugal, 1989) * ''Pitanga Madura'' (EMI Portugal, 1992) * '' Pretaluz lacklight' (

Luaka Bop Luaka Bop is a New York–based record label founded by musician David Byrne, former lead singer and guitarist for the art rock– new wave band Talking Heads. What began with Byrne making cassettes of his favorite Tropicália tracks for his fri ...

, 1997) * ''Renascence'' (World Connection, 2004) * ''Love Is Blindness'' (2008) (1 song on the compilation 'In The Name Of Love Africa Celebrates U2') * ''Classics of my Soul'' (WB Music, 2010)

References

External links

* *
BBC review of ''Renascence''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bastos, Waldemar 1954 births 2020 deaths Angolan emigrants to Portugal Angolan male musicians People from Zaire Province Angolan songwriters Deaths from cancer in Portugal 20th-century male musicians 21st-century male musicians