WHEN sport-loving Jamaicans of different generations think about Portugal, football stars Eusebio and Cristian Ronaldo come to mind.

The Rubera Roots Band are looking to score big with reggae audiences through Militância Rastafari, their first album.

Launched in 2013, the seven-piece unit is based in Amadora, an urban area in Lisbon, Portugal’s capital. Members are from Angola, Cape Verde Islands and

Portugal.

Ras Nunukah, the band’s lead vocalist, is from Cape Verde. He told the Jamaica Observer that though Militância Rastafari is recorded in Cape Verde Creole, their influences are diverse.

“From Bulimundo, a famous band from Cape Verde, also CaboVerde Show Band, Norberto Tavares, Ferro Gaita, the Semba Rithim and the Bantu Riddim from Angola, musicians like Fela Kuti; there are also influences from jazz, and Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, The Congos, The Abyssinians…so many,” he said.

Ras Kamaradah (rhythm guitar), Ras M (drums), Jahson (percussion), Andrae Moraes (keyboards), Paulo Ribeiro (bass) and Dodas Spencer (guitar) are the other members of Rubera Roots Band.

Released in December, the 10-track Militância Rastafari has a Caribbean flavour. It is co-produced by

the Jamaican-run Ziggyblacks Productions and features veteran guitarist Tuff Lion of the Virgin Islands on the song Larga Tudu Bu Ben.

The Rubera Roots Band are scheduled to promote Militância Rastafari with dates in Portugal, Spain, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau and Senegal.

— Howard Campbell