Sunguila

Pellegrin El Kady is a unique musician who was born in the Bijagos Islands of Guinea-Bissau and lived in Cape Verde, Mozambique, Angola, Portugal before moving to Quebec in the mid 70's. After completing graduate school there, he worked as an educator and at the same time devoted much of his time to ethnic music therapy.

This hard to find album was released in 1986 following his 84' maxi single. As with the previous album, it features many local musicians, including keyboard player Sergio Goncalves with wide range of tunes from Afro to New Wave to Balearic. Includes the smooth Balearic tune "Sahel" and the melancholic synth-pop "Bolanha," which seems to place more emphasis on songwriting.

Ricardo Pellegrin El Kady: lead vocals, electro-acoustic guitar, electro-acoustic percussion
Alain Grouette: bass
Evans Baptiste: drums
Sergio Gonçales: keyboards

Composed and arranged by Ricardo Pellegrin El Kady

Design concept and graphics by Johanne Ratté
Front cover photography by Freddie Icard

Spine credit: Ricardo Pellegrin El Kady

Je dédie mon premier disque à tous mes amis et aux musiciens que j'ai rencontrés et qui m'ont soutenu, à cimenter cette sublime aventure musicale que constitue l'African Beat.
– El Kady

I dedicate my first record to all my friends and to the musicians I have met and who have supported me, in helping to solidify this sublime musical adventure that is the African Beat.
– El Kady