By Mary Houlihan

After more than two decades in exile from his homeland, singer Waldemar Bastos made a triumphant return to Angola in 2003. He was welcomed with open arms by the people who for decades had been sustained by his lilting, deeply expressive music.

Through decades of turmoil, the people of the war-torn country kept Bastos' music close to their heart and soul.

"Music was a very precious thing that they kept for themselves," said Bastos through an interpreter. "So my return was very emotional for everyone."

Bastos will be backed by a guitarist and percussionist when he performs at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Old Town School of Folk Music. He'll focus on the lovely tunes on his new album, "Renascence," his first release in seven years.

He often is lumped together with other Afro-pop performers, but Bastos' distinctive style travels many cultural roads. He layers his songs with the musical influences of Angola and draws on the zouk music of the Congo. But in Portugal, where he found refuge, he acquired a taste for the passionate lamentations of fado (Portuguese blues). In Brazil, where he also has lived, he developed his smooth delivery and spicy rhythms. His distinctive blend also draws on Afro-Cuban influences and morna (blues) of the Cape Verde Islands.

Bastos, who is in his early 50s, grew up during the time Angola was a Portuguese colony.

"We listened to African music but also music from the United States and Europe," he said. "There was something very natural about listening to music from both worlds. Now my musical universe is very big because of this."

Angola was not an easy place to live. While still at school, Bastos was imprisoned by the Portuguese colonial police, and after independence in 1975, a bloody civil war broke out. Bastos decided this was not a climate in which his music could develop and grow, so he defected in 1982 while on a tour with an Angolan group in Europe.

"Music is like oxygen for me," he said. "It keeps me alive. It was important that I find another place to create and perform."

But through the years, there has always been a message for Angola in Bastos' music. The country is only starting to recover, but he is steadfast in his belief that peace brings a new optimism to Angola. It's a vision that shines throughout his new songs.

"I helped peace come to Angola because I was often singing about unity and brotherhood," said Bastos. "Now I see hope in people's faces and that inspired me to make the new album."