Mateus Aleluia brought African heritage to musica popular brasileira when he became well known in Brazil in the 1960s with his band Os Tincoas. One can hear his home of Cachoeira, a small town in the Recôncavo Baiano, the fertile hinterland of Salvador da Bahia in the northeast of Brazil, where the African tradition was especially cultivated. It is said of Cachoeira that it has the highest concentration of churches and Terreiros—Afro-Brazilian meeting houses of the Candomblé religion—both of which are regularly visited by the same people. The Yoruba singing intoned there, along with the filigree percussion, form the foundation of Aleluia’s songs. For twenty years, since the beginning of the 1980s, he remained out of the limelight, living in Angola where he dedicated himself, above all, to cultural politics, education, and research. Extensive journeys took him to all regions of the country where he met the old masters, learning texts, melodies, and rhythms from them. In 2002 he returned to Brazil and the stage. Now he celebrates his eightieth birthday and his sixtieth anniversary of his first stage performance with the concert evening Deep Bahia, encompassing works ranging from his initial years with Os Tincoas, through to his latest albums. One of these, Afrocanto Das Nacoes, earned him a Grammy nomination in 2022. However, until now, outside of the Brazilian community he has remained virtually unknown in Germany. With soft voice, guitar, and atabaque, in his songs he tells of life, nature, and the gods. He appears at HKW with his daughter Fabiana Aleluia on piano, accompanied by a percussionist.