Terrakota

A three-month trek across West Africa established the groundwork for Terrakota, the Lisbon-rooted ensemble that fuses Afro pop with broader world music traditions. Three originators immersed themselves in Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, and the Marble Coast, where they acquired skills in constructing and performing the unrefined ancestral instruments that anchor West African rhythms. Returning to Lisbon, the musicians dedicated themselves to preserving and promoting the layered folkloric repertoire that had enthralled them abroad. They wove those elements together with flamenco, reggae, and mainstream Western styles, shaping an energetic African and pan-Caribbean dance celebration that soon reached listeners across Portugal. Under the direction of accomplished Angolese vocalist Romi Anauel, the band assembled a wide-ranging body of original material whose lyrics appear in Mandingo, English, French, and Arabic. Their debut album, simply titled Terrakota, was tracked for the Zona Music imprint during 2002 sessions in Lisbon. Two years afterward came Humus Sapiens, their second release, captured at African music legend Youssou N'Dour’s studio in Dakar, Senegal. That recording opened doors across Europe’s thriving world music circuit and generated performance opportunities throughout Portugal and neighboring countries. Marking five years of activity, the group issued its third studio album, Oba Train, on the Dunya label.