David Zé - Mutudi Ua Ufolo / Viúva da Liberdade

Reissue, on CD and vinyl, via Jazzybelle, of Mutudi Ua Ufolo / Viúva da Liberdade, the first and only full-length album by David Zé, the biggest name in the history of Angolan popular music, originally released in 1975 by CDA.

A significant landmark in Angolan protest music, Mutudi Ua Ufolo is a fusion of semba, rumba, and bolero, recorded at the height of Angola's liberation struggle. Moving and politicized, the album resonates far beyond Luanda, carrying with it a universal spirit similar to that of Bob Marley's work. Recorded with Conjunto Merengue, the album captures David Zé at his creative peak. Sung in Portuguese and local dialects, it combines rhythmic elegance with deep commitment, weaving connections between Afro-Brazilian and Latin American traditions. After David Zé's assassination in 1977, the album was banned for several years before being reborn as an essential work of resistance and beauty. In 2008, his legacy found new resonance when Damian Marley and Nas sampled Undenge Uami on the album Distant Relatives.