Fonseca et ses Anges Noirs – 1971

Of Cape Verdean and Senegalese origin (he was born in Saint-Louis, Senegal, in 1940), Luis Vera da Fonseca represents the influence of Cuban music in West Africa. With his Anges Noirs, named after the cabaret he opened in Brussels, he achieved success by covering classics from the repertoire, sung in English, Spanish, French and even Creole. He performed regularly in Belgium and France. Manu Dibango was even the director of his orchestra for a time. In this 1971 album (here the 1976 reissue), released by Riviera, Afro-Cuban music rubs shoulders with highlife, merengue and cha-cha.