The Sound of Kinshasa: Guitar Classics from Zaire (1993)

John Storm Roberts was a musicologist fascinated by the cross-fertilization of music across the Atlantic, particularly Cuban music's profound impact on the development of popular music in Africa. Perhaps nowhere was more affected than the two Congos, where Latin rhythms catalyzed an explosion of musical creativity that produced the continent's most influential pop music.

Roberts was more than a musicologist; he also was an educator dedicated to sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm, and his great love of the music. How natural, then, for him to include a survey of early Congolese music as one of his Original Music releases.

As the liner notes (included in the download) explain, the album's tracks are presented chronologically in order to hear the evolution of rumba. It begins with a Hugh Tracey field recording, and quickly moves to selections from the most influential innovators, African Jazz, O.K. Jazz and African Fiesta. There are many outstanding tracks included, though standouts for me are the sublime "Madina" from Rochereau & Orch. African Fiesta and Franco's "Bomboka Awuti na New York." Although then there is Beguen Band's sultry "Christina," and. . .

I corresponded with John Storm Roberts quite a bit in the 90s, particularly in 1998 when Original Music was failing and about to cease its pioneering business. He was so passionate about the music and getting it out to as many people as possible, that I am confident he would endorse spreading the love here. This is the first CD I have posted, and I have to note that there are a few points in a couple of songs where Original Music's digital remastering is not perfect. Still, this is a great album, well worth listening to through a couple decades of wonderful music.

Enjoy!

P.S. I have most Original Music releases, and over time will make them available here. Several of the best ones have been posted already on the eclectically awesome Holy Warbles.

Souzy Kasseya - Le Phénomènal (1984)

A good bookend for Tshala Muana's release below is this solo outing by talented guitarist Souzy Kasseya, recorded in Paris around the same time. This is very much an in-studio production, with Kasseya providing all guitars, programmed drums and many voices. Manu Lima adds keyboards, and there are a couple of horns, a little understated percussion and a few female backing vocals thrown in the mix. The result is a record that sounds over-produced, almost clinical, and quite thin.

While listening to Le Phénomènal, I could not help but compare it to his previous solo recording, the excellent Le Retour de l'As, which is much more open and natural sounding. More real. That record is available here on the excellent Global Groove site. Today's share was rereleased in Britain by Earthworks, but did not sell well. Get both of these records and see what you think.

Enjoy sometime soon!

Tshala Muana - Nasi Nabali (1985)

Here is another dose of mutuashi rhythms from the champion of the southeastern Congo style, Tshala Muana. This is one of my favorite Tshala Muana records, in part due to the superb lead guitar provided by Souzy Kasseya. None of the musicians is credited on the record sleeve, so if you know who else sat in on this session, please let us know in the comments.

Tshala Muana was one of very few women to succeed in Congo's male-dominated music industry, through her strong song composition, sweet singing and flamboyant style. After beginning her career as a singer and dancer in both Mpongo Love's and Abeti's bands, she became a star in her own right. This album captures her at her peak.

Enjoy sometime soon!

Tata Bambo Kouyaté - Djely Mousso (1988)

I don't know about you, but I tend to go through phases of listening intensely to one style of music, and then am captivated by another. Currently it is almost impossible for me to tear myself away from early Congolese music. I am reading Gary Stewart's fascinating Rumba On The River, and thanks to Global Groove, dialAfrica, worldservice and others, I am able to listen to the two Congos' musical history as I read about it. Yet at another time I was immersed in mandé music.

Tata Bambo Kouyaté is one of the great griot voices of Mali, and this powerful album catches her peaking. The album opens with the brilliant, sharp guitar of Modibo Kouyaté, and when the rhythm section drops in you think: This is it! Then Tata Bambo begins singing and you forget for a second that there is any instrumental accompaniment at all. The voice is overwhelming. It sweeps you away, and then the guitar draws you back for a suite of tribute songs delivered with passion.

This album was produced by Ibrahima Sylla with Boncana Maïga, a partnership responsible for uncounted outstanding recordings. While Modibo's guitar and Moriba Koïta's ngoni carry the traditional current, Maïga's electric bass and keyboards have a funky edge that gives the ageless praise singing a completely modern setting. Tata Bambo rides above it all, demanding attention with her extraordinary voice. Grab this extraordinary album, listen to it with headphones, and don't let go.

Enjoy!

Blog Etiquette

I do a pretty careful search of the web before I post a record, making sure it is not still in print and not available on the premium share sites I depend upon – those in the lower left margin on this page - or others. Yet if it is out-of-print, does it matter if more than one blog hosts a recording? How would a reader of this blog find this particular album on another site, if it were posted years ago? Well, of course, via Google; but that would presuppose the reader was looking for a specific album. 

Yet I suspected that was not the usual case. So I analyzed traffic to this site, and found that less than 1% of you reading this came because you were searching for a recording I have posted. Chances are, you are coming here to glean a near-CD quality recording of an album, and perhaps an artist, new to you. Therefore as I continue digitizing my vinyl collection, unless I have seen a high bit rate copy posted on another blog recently, I'll post my records for you, with due respect to other bloggers that have similar tastes and longer history.

Review: Samba Mapangala - Maisha Ni Matamu

Longtime favorite singer Samba Mapangala recently unleashed a killer new album with a fortified Orchestra Virunga. Maisha Ni Matamu (Life is Sweet) covers broad sonic territory, including reggae and other Caribbean influences, but the bedrock Congolese rumbas are, and have been for decades, the band's foundation. Mapangala's Congo roots are enhanced on this release with crucial contributions from guitarists Popolipo, Syran Mbenza, and Huit Kilos, and Komba Bello Mafwala on drums.

The opening title track is straightforward soukous that will fill any dance floor, while the acoustic "Tupendane" is at the other end of the spectrum, a gently swinging, acoustic appeal for harmony among people everywhere. "Tupendane" features John Bashengazi, a musician from the Eastern Congo who plays all of the instruments and sings along with Samba. Other songs range from celebrations to exhortations to care for the environment and each other. "Tupende Miti (Let's Plant Trees)" offers its wisdom in multiple languages, giving a tribute to Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan Nobel Prize winner responsible for widespread reforestation in her country and beyond.

Mapangala has been based in the U.S. for years, but he built his career in Kenya after leaving the Congo. Doug Paterson has a good biography and appreciation here. His many recordings always feature wonderful guitar and his emblematic singing. While this record captures the veteran in good form and the production sounds first-rate, there are no nine-minute rumba classics comparable to those that kept Mapangala at the peak of popularity in East Africa for decades. He is more worldly now, and so is his music, and that is a mixed blessing for this listener.

I was going to post an audio snippet of "Maisha Ni Matamu," but found this fun video that has the whole song, with the gentleman trying to keep up with the young women, on the cold streets of NY. I thought: Enjoy!

P.S. I've decided to start including reviews of new releases on this site, reviving in this format my earlier activity with The Beat magazine. I'll sprinkle them among the sharing posts, looking a bit different; I hope you find them useful. Maisha Ni Matamu (Life is Sweet) can be purchased for download at CDBaby, Amazon and iTunes, if a low bit rate is okay for your ears. Full-bandwidth CDs can be found here or here.

The Equators - Hot (1981)

During a hot summer in a year of personal transition, I went into Detroit with my friend Peter, to a small club where we had heard that a ska band was playing. It was 1981 and the club scene in Ann Arbor was new wave, punk and, rarely, reggae, so a ska band promised something different, a link to The Specials, The Selector and Madness, who had been residing on our turntables. I remember the club as dark and fairly empty, but I also remember dancing like crazy to music that was ska with a new wave edge. I bought an album from the band: The Equators.

The Equators were one of the second wave of ska that blossomed in Britain, decades after the ska originators moved on to rock steady and reggae in Jamaica. The bands mentioned above spearheaded the 2 Tone movement, and it is a mystery to me why this band did not achieve the same fame and following. A cynic might speculate that there wasn't enough white to make it into 2 Tone, but more likely the label (Stiff) failed to promote the band. Or this record: I never saw it in a record store.

Too bad, because this is one of the best, if not The Best, record of the 2 Tone era. Led by three Bailey brothers from Birmingham, a first British generation from Jamaican immigrants, the band was really tight and rocking. The two lead-off songs, "Rescue Me" and "Age of 5," are among the strongest, but the instrumental "Rankin' Discipline" absolutely kicks. The album exhibits solid musicianship from beginning to end. It's been grey, cool and wet where I live, for too long, and this music is an antidote for me, as it was thirty years ago when life was gloomy.

Enjoy!

Jocelyn Béroard - Siwo (1986)

The cross-fertilization of music between Africa and the Caribbean is fascinating, and it has had profound, evolutionary impacts on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. The most obvious example, of course, is how the mutated African musics of Cuba provided the foundation for the development of most modern African pop. Another example is zouk that developed in Martinique and Guadeloupe, an infectious music created deliberately by fusing African and French Caribbean styles.

Kassav is the dominant zouk band, filled with wonderfully talented musicians including Jacob Desvarieux, Georges Decimus, Jean-Philippe Marthély and Jean-Claude Naimro. In the mid to late 80s, its influence extended beyond its Caribbean home and Paris base to Africa and around the world. Several members of the band participated in diverse recordings, including the M'Pongo Love album posted below.

Jocelyn Béroard has been Kassav's charismatic vocalist since the beginning. This album caught the band in great form, and I liked it before even listening to it! In fact, it has been my favorite Kassav record. Please excuse some surface noise; I played it often, back in the day. Put it on for dancing this weekend!

Enjoy!

M'Pongo Love et Alexandre Sambat - Exclusivite

Inspired by the great post on dialAfrica, with M'pongo Love's first record, here is one of her last recordings, a collaboration with Gabon's Alexandre Sambat. M'pongo (Landu) Love had an ephemeral career full of promise that was cut short by a fatal disease at the age of 34.

Compared to her early recordings, made as a very young woman, the songs on this album are radically more produced, utilizing state-of-the-art technology and a stable of excellent musicians. The one brilliant thread that connects this album to earlier works is M'pongo's wonderful singing. She excels with her two songs on this short record, and on the opening Sambat composition "Mbecka," which is choice. Yet even her sweet voice cannot save the insipid, thankfully short, "Hymne a la Paix." Maybe you enjoy hymns more than I do?

Enjoy sometime soon!

Zaiko Langa-Langa - Subissez Les Consequences (1987)

What better way to book-end my last post than with this Zaïko Langa-Langa album from the same year, presumably with a very similar line-up of personnel? Presumably because nobody in the band is listed on this album sleeve. I hate it when musicians are not acknowledged for their fine work!

Filled with great guitars, percussion and singing, and typical fiery sebenes, this album will heat up your weekend. The first song, by Bimi Ombale, is excellent. However, it will not heat my house this winter, and I am fairly occupied stockpiling firewood these weeks. My slow posting pace should pick up when the cold sets in, all too soon. Meanwhile, snack on this:

Enjoy sometime soon!

Dindo Yogo - Apres Leurs Tournées de Tokyo-Paris-Kinshasa (1987)

Dindo Yogo was a singer and composer who passed through Viva La Musica and Langa Langa Stars, before settling into Zaiko Langa Langa for his longest band tenure. During his career, ended early at the age of 44 in 2000, he also produced several solo recordings. This album from 1987 captures a full, rollicking Zaiko sound, powered by that band's great guitarists, Popolipo and Petit Poisson.

Strangely, each side of this record begins, abruptly, with the extended sebene of last song on the other side. I was tempted to fuse them onto the proper songs, but left them as they were. "Souviens-Toi" is the best song on the album, but it is all fine listening.

Enjoy!

Teta Lando - Menina de Angola (1990)

I've been listening to Angolan music a lot lately, and I devoted my radio show to it this week. Unfortunately I did not have this record available yet, for it has several tasty songs. Teta Lando was an important figure in Angolan music history who caused national mourning when he died in 2008. His long career included activism and leadership of the National Musicians and Composers Union.

This album swings between semba and a couple of slower songs full of suadade. It's interesting how influential Portuguese fado was in that country's African colonies. While the guitars and percussion are nice throughout, and the keyboards are mostly tasteful, it is Teta Lando's expressive singing that hooks you in this relatively short recording.

Enjoy!

Basil 'Manenberg' Coetzee & Lionel Pillay - Plum and Cherry (1979)

Basil Coetzee acquired his nickname, 'Manenberg,' from his masterful performance in a wonderful collaboration with Dollar Brand (Abdullah Ibrahim) in 1974. Coetzee remained in South Africa through the long years of apartheid, while many of colleagues in the SA jazz community fled repression to Europe and elsewhere. A good summary of Coetzee's career is here.

This album followed the seminal "Manenberg - Cape Town Fringe" by five years, and Coetzee's exuberant, joyful sax in that performance had become much more soulful in the rendition of Dollar Brand's "Cherry" that fills all 25 minutes of side one.

While Basil Coetzee achieved fame, if not fortune, for his musical efforts, pianist Lionel Pillay received neither. Although he spent years as a session musician, contributing to great recordings like Winston Mankunku's "Yakhal' Inkomo," and, as Lionel Martin, with the South African Broadcasting Corporation, Pillay died in obscurity.

This obscure album is really Pillay's opus, with two extended songs featuring his improvisations on piano, electric piano and organ. While Coetzee's sax flows through much of "Cherry," it is absent altogether on the flip side, filled by Pillay's "Plum." Throughout the album both Rod Clark, on drums and percussion, and bassist Charles Johnstone set down wicked, prolonged rhythms. Pillay samples "Manenberg" in "Plum," but much of the song rocks with disco or even house overtones. Pillay is brilliant on any keyboard he touches, on this unique recording.

Enjoy!

Barbaros del Ritmo - Palo de Mayo (1971)

All around the edge of the Caribbean, where the sea meets the sand, the presence of African music is pervasive. Carried to the shores of various countries as slaves, or making their way there as escapees, Africans settled and integrated with local indigenous populations and descendants of colonial conquerors. While the music of Haiti and Cuba are completely familiar, and the cumbias of Colombia have swept the world, some less developed countries have equally compelling coastal music, varying from place to place depending on the cultural mix.

Palo de Mayo is Nicaragua's contribution to this musical diversity, and this was the first recorded Palo de Mayo album. Sung in English and mískito, the dominant indigenous language on Nicaragua's coast, this folkloric style is like mento on steroids. Most of the songs are Caribbean standards, but you will be surprised at the rendering. This is straight out party music, developed to celebrate May 1, harkening back to English celebrations from centuries ago.

Barbaros del Ritmo were the primary band of Bluefields, Nicaragua's small port, during the 60s and early 70s. This record was produced by Charlie Robb, the country's leading musician of the day, and his cosmopolitan experience added significantly to the horn arrangements. His trombone and sax contributions are essential. Despite its origin in one of the smallest of places, this music smokes. Try to be still, while listening to it. I predict you will be moving.

Enjoy!

Le Gran Maitre Franco et T.P.O.K. Jazz - Ekaba-kaba (1987)

Today I post my fiftieth record since activating this site in March, with an amazing (to me) 30,000 page views by you. I feel privileged to have joined this community of impassioned music lovers, and grateful that I can contribute. To celebrate, I chose to share a mint condition recording from the immensely influential and profoundly important Franco Luambo Makiadi. Recorded in the same year as Attention Na Sida, and perhaps eclipsed by it, Ekaba-kaba is another brilliant musical effort.

This recording already was posted a few years ago on the wonderful Global Groove site, but not only is the recording offered here an exceptionally pristine one, I also think that Franco's legacy is so important, that propagating its preservation is a responsibility. Inspired by the excellent, informative WorldService site, I am making this mint recording available as a lossless FLAC file in addition to the normal MP3, limited to fifty downloads of the fiftieth post.

Enjoy! or FLAC while you can!

26 July - A kind listener noticed that there was a skip at the beginning of the second track of the recording I posted. I've replaced the 320 MP3 file with that track re-recorded, but for those of you who already downloaded the MP3 album, you can download the repaired track as an MP3 here. Due to upload restrictions, I'm afraid all FLAC downloaders will have to download the repaired track's FLAC file here and replace it manually. Sorry for the inconvenience.