Tonight we had an embassy sponsored performance at the restaurant Jango Veleiro. Like all of our performances on this tour it was free to the public. Since we had just been on TV the night before, the turnout was very high. It was a fairly large outdoor dining space but was packed with the 200+ in attendance.

Ambassador McMullen spoke briefly before we began a set that ran over 90 minutes. For this occasion the embassy had engaged a local jazz singer, Sandra Cordeiro, to work with us, so we structured the set around her three tunes. We played five, she sang three including one of my all-time favorites, Brigas Nunca Mais, then we finished with three more. The last one was Muxima (Heart), the Angolan tune that we’d played earlier in the day on the radio. It was extremely well-received and appreciated by the audience and made a fitting and satisfying conclusion.

Before and after we had short interviews with both print and TV reporters. The public represented quite a variety of people and we spoke to quite a few after the concert, including a number of Americans. Everyone seemed happy, as were we. We’ll probably look back at this evening as the high point of our stay in Angola.

Everywhere we’ve gone on this tour we’ve been asked when we’re coming back. The answer is that we don’t know if we’ll ever have the opportunity to return but if given the chance we would love to.

Our adventure is rapidly drawing to a close. We have a rest day tomorrow (Sunday), then two activities on Monday and a departure scheduled on Tuesday. We’ll try to make the most of our two remaining days.
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Angola press release