Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Papa Wemba - La Vie Est Belle (1989)

Let's round out the offerings of less-known works from the most-known African singer/bandleaders with this soundtrack from Papa Wemba's dramatic film debut. I probably should attribute this album to "Various artists," but to me it is Papa Wemba with adornments. There is not an abundance of songs on this album, and like most soundtracks, there is a theme that gets varied treatments. Yet that theme allows Wemba's extraordinary voice to have full stage, often over minimal, acoustic or traditional backing, or a cappella.

Of course there is full rumba from Wemba, too, as well as tasty songs from Zaiko Langa Langa, Tshala Muana and Klody. Those songs are all fine, but the bare voice of Papa Wemba is the wonder. This is one of my treasure's from the early days of Stern's Africa, who rescued it from its original 1987 release on Miracle Records.
Enjoy sometime soon!

6 comments:

ralf2152 said...

A gold mine found this blog to my country Colombia.
You have given us many joys, all your music is great, do with such a great job.

ralf2152

Rhythm Connection said...

Gracias, Ralf. I would never have guessed that Colombia would be one of the main visitor countries. But con mucho gusto te doy lo que puedo. Kind words like yours are gifts for sharing. Thanks for writing!

Apurva Bahadur said...

Excellent. This is a masterpiece. Apurva from Pune, India.

Anonymous said...

I need to watch the movie
sincerely
wuod k

gilhodges said...

Wow! Double wow! I have been searching for this ever since seeing the film. Thank you for this and all the gems glittering here.

Anonymous said...

Please repost link! Thanks!