Try the blindfold test on the new Bonga disc; his wonderfully abraded voice might lead you to guess you're listening to flamenco.  But Bonga plays modern semba, Angolan music with ties to Brazilian samba.  Occasionally one can hear a stripped-down version of the tolling drop-out-from-under-you bass drums that characterize samba.  There's also acoustic guitar, subdued accordion and slippery basslines.  Kaxexe simmers along, with slower-tempo songs, then it picks up the pace toward the middle.  The kick drum starts hitting every beat, the accordion gets perky and there's even a hint of forro in the swinging rhythms.  Bonga also plays a dizanka—a tube scraper, with a stick affixed to it that operates sort of like a whammy bar, allowing the player to bend the pitch slightly—but his warm raspy voice is what makes the record.

 
--John Adamian