Bastor lives abroad now, but since the end of the civil war, he's returned to Angola several times to participate in Angola's renascence: hence the title of his cd.

 Waldemar grew up on the Angolan Congo border, so every once and a while a bit of Congolese rhumba perks up his music.

 He grew up listening to all types of music, including Western classical, jazz, and rock as well as Brazilian and other music of the Portuguese Diaspora (Angola's a former Portuguese colony).

 Listeners will be surprised and hopefully delighted to hear a song from a soft ballad to Congolese rhumba, then jazz/rock with a Middle Eastern string section.

 Some of Waldeman's vocals remind me of French cafe singers meeting bossa nova vocals.

 There are two versions of the song 'Pitanga Madurinha', which has a reggae type beat reminiscent of early ska bands.

 RENASCENCE closes out in a stronger Jamaican version remixed with vocals added by Jamaican toaster (the original rappers) Chaka Demas.

 To call RENASCENCE an African cd is a bit of an understatement, for this is true world music or music without borders.

 You can dance to it, or just chill out and listen. Good stuff.