“Andambi” reimagines Afro-Mineiro song and previews the album Vozes Vissungueiras

First single from the album Vozes Vissungueiras arrives on November 11, featuring Salloma Salomão, Sérgio Pererê, and leading voices of Afro-Brazilian music.

“Andambi”, the first single from the upcoming album Vozes Vissungueiras, will be released on November 11 on all streaming platforms. The track offers a contemporary interpretation of the “Canto do Meio-Dia” — also known as Canto VII — one of the vissungos documented by Ayres da Mata Machado Filho in his 1943 book O Negro e o Garimpo em Minas Gerais. The single bridges ancestral tradition and modern sound, reaffirming a living cultural legacy.

The original song, collected in São João da Chapada, a district of Diamantina (MG), is part of a set of 65 vissungos documented between 1928 and 1939. These work songs portrayed daily life in the diamond mines of Alto Jequitinhonha, revealing the cultural and musical influence of Central African diasporas on Minas Gerais and Afro-Brazilian traditions.

Oral tradition meets contemporary sound

Faithful to the collective spirit of the vissungos, “Andambi” is performed by Salloma Salomão and Sérgio Pererê, with backing vocals by Graciela Soares, Juçara Marçal, Luciano Mendes, Rita Teles, and Tiganá Santana. Gui Braz plays bass and timbila—a traditional xylophone from Mozambique’s Chopi people—while Salomão handles percussion and arrangements.

With arrangements that weave together history and experimentation, the track celebrates the power of collective memory. The album’s musical direction is by Salloma Salomão, with curation by Rita Teles, Luciano Mendes, and Joana Corrêa.

The Vozes Vissungueiras project

Created by Núcleo Coletivo das Artes Produções in partnership with the platform Garimpar em Minas Negras Cantos de Diamante and the Mukuá – Laboratory for Vissungo Studies, Vozes Vissungueiras features 15 tracks offering a contemporary reinterpretation of Afro-Mineiro repertoires of Bantu origin. The project draws from historical research by Ayres da Mata Machado Filho, recordings by ethnomusicologist Luiz Heitor Corrêa de Azevedo, and the oral tradition maintained by Enilson Viríssimo, a vissungo heir from Alto Jequitinhonha.

Inspired by the landmark 1982 album O Canto dos Escravos—featuring Clementina de Jesus, Geraldo Filme, and Tia Doca da Portela—the new work reaffirms the enduring presence of Bantu-based musicality in Brazilian culture, connecting past and present through sound.

Releases and live shows

The single “Andambi” precedes the full release of Vozes Vissungueiras, which arrives on December 10 on all digital platforms. Two concerts will accompany the launch: a pre-release show on November 30 at Parque do Povo in Itapecerica da Serra (SP), closing the Black Awareness Month program, and an official release concert on December 13 at Centro Cultural São Paulo.

Service

Single release: Andambi — November 11, 2025 (digital platforms)
Album release: Vozes Vissungueiras — December 10, 2025 (digital platforms)
Shows:
November 30 — Parque do Povo, Itapecerica da Serra (SP)
December 13, 7 PM — Centro Cultural São Paulo