Jan 27/05
Cuba, Congo, Kékélé
All the Franco lately really got me in the mood for some Kékélé.
Kékélé’s 2003 album, Congo Life, is right up there as one of my favourite West/Central African albums in recent years. Congo Life is Kékélé’s second album to date. It rips it up Latin-style with beautiful acoustic harmonies of various guitars, strings, multi-part vocals and rhythm.
Kékélé boasts several major Congolese musicians, my favourite among whom is the amazingly named Rigo Star. Mr. Star’s soukous guitar used to back up the likes of Mbilia Bel and Koffi Olomide in the 80s when they were just starting to hit it big. He’s mellowed out a bit since then but the skill remains.
ps- Apparently I’ve been nominated for something called the Bloggies. If you like what you hear, why not vote.
Tags: congo, rumba
Beautiful! I don’t usually like violins on african records but this seemed to sound fine to me. Thanks for sharing!
[...] Anyway, the concert was great and so is their third and latest album, Kinavana. You might’ve listened to Kékélé on Benn loxo before, but if not here’s your chance. [...]
Their music never fails to cheer me up, and we nearly share the same name!