The Alma Negra collective consists of three Swiss based friends and musical kindred spirits. Crossing musical traditions, their eclectic sound is result of their varied and cross-cultural backgrounds. The Figueira Brothers, Dersu & Diego have roots in Cape Verde, while Mario’s roots are in Spain. As DJ’s, producers and live performers, their sound ranges from Jazz to African and Latin, from Donald Byrd to Fela Kuti to Theo Parrish. The Alma Negra camp is bubbling over with creativity. They’ve released on Sofrito, Highlife and are part of the Heist Recordings family. The Basel based DJ’s and obsessive diggers formed Alma Negra Records in 2018 as forum for global sounds and club ready music with a multi-cultural approach and a raging deep passion for the Latin flavour, mad percussion, highly infectious rhythms, and tribal beats.
The ‘Zouk Combat EP’ pays homage to the Afrodisco sounds of the 80s. Zouk is the disco noise from the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique. The title track is nothing but a dancefloor bomb, with crisp brass, drum machines and funky synths that drive the Zouk beat forward. ‘Sosso’ is the cut you want to hear as the sun comes up on a beach. It’s delicate vocal and super light groove make you float up into the Sunrise. ‘Timbal Madness’ comes with a hard timbal solo, deep synth pads and mental voice synth solo. On the remix is Boston born, Medellin based studio wizard Bosq, who delivers his Afro-Latin rerub of ‘Zouk Combat’, once again proving his skill as one of the most in demand remixers in this scene ain’t no joke.
Promotext provided by the label.