Pwanga

Description

Lúcia de Carvalho is an alchemist, a seeker of meaning, and an awakener of essence. Her voice conveys vibrations that heal and transform, while her drum echoes the voice of ancestors, inviting us to reconnect with our deep personality. Born in Luanda, she left the Angolan capital with her mother and two of her four sisters for Portugal, and at the age of twelve, she was welcomed with her two sisters by a French family in Meistratzheim, a small village in Alsace. Her African and Portuguese roots unexpectedly resurface when Brazilian music arrives in her village: it is the group Som Brasil with which, for ten years, she will hone her musical skills, moving from backing vocalist to lead singer, as well as dancing and playing the drum. In 2008, she decided to embark on a solo career, writing her own songs. After a first EP in 2011, she met Edouard Heilbronn, a young Alsatian bassist who had just spent nearly three years on the other side of the world. And what was meant to happen, happened. They share their lives and music, working together on compositions, and performing on stages, offering the audience all the radiant and positive energy of Lúcia. After a long journey that is as musical as it is initiatory, passing through Brazil and Angola, Kuzola ("Love" in Kimbundu) is born, the name of an album (2016) but also of a sensitive and moving documentary that traces Lúcia's quest for roots, providing her with answers to questions about her identity. After the search for meaning, she is now in search of essence. This opens up new territories, always in symbiosis with Edouard Heilbronn, in this new album recorded and mixed at Studios Ferber (Paris) by Jean Lamoot (Salif Keita, Lo’Jo, Alain Bashung). Africa and Brazil are certainly still at the heart of her life and compositions, finding lyrics, melodies, and rhythms in a single flow. A raw diamond that her partner polishes, enriching it with harmonies and soundscapes that turn the tracks of the album into travel films. Other notable contributions to this luminous repertoire include the illustrious Brazilian singer Chico César, the powerful and warm voice of singer Anna Tréa, and two veterans of Angolan music: percussionist Galiano Neto and producer-guitarist Betinho Feijo, known for their long-standing work alongside the great Bonga Kwenda. On his part, the virtuoso Zé Luis Nascimento (Mayra Andrade, Ayo, Cesaria Evora) has managed to elevate the essence of each track with his original and varied vocabulary, blending Brazilian, Eastern, and Western percussion. Pwanga (Light) is the title of this new album by Lúcia de Carvalho, which combines softness with power, meaning with essence, light with the deep roots of a tree born in Africa, whose branches embrace the world and bloom into songs. Her name, from the beginning, announced her vocation. Lúcia means light, and de Carvalho (oak, in Portuguese) signifies the strength of the tree. This encapsulates her poetic and human quest: to root the light.