A belated dewenati / happy new year to everyone.

After a month-long break Benn loxo is back. I hope you all had a nice holiday season.

Lately I’ve been reading a great book by Gary Stewart, Rumba on the River. It covers the history of 20th century Congolese popular music on both sides of the river, mainly in what are today known as Brazzaville and Kinshasa. Even if you have only a passing interest in Congolese music I really recommend this book. It’s an entertaining read that packs in a lot of information while still managing to tell an engaging story.

Aside from now knowing a large chunk of the groups involved, I’m no expert in the cultural and social history of Congolese music. One thing I certainly didn’t know is how much of a role Congo’s Greek community played in the development of popular music. Almost all of Congo’s greatest stars such as Franco, Dr. Nico, Rochereau, Essous, Kalle and others got their start in Kinshasa and Brazzaville’s Greek-run studios, clubs and labels throughout the 40s, 50s and 60s.

Much like with the Lebanese of West Africa and Indians of East Africa, Congo had a wave of immigration from European political trouble spots during the first half of the 20th century. Many young Greeks had fled the post-WWI troubles of the Greco-Turkish and Greco-Italian wars at home in search of adventure, stability and business opportunities. Plenty arrived on the banks of the Congos.

For reasons that are still not entirely clear to me many of these young Greeks took an interest in the local popular music of the time. Skeptics might argue that they were in it for the money, but starting a successful record label in mid-century Congo wasn’t exactly a guaranteed get-rich-quick scheme. You had to like the music to take the risk. Regardless, by the early 50s nearly every record label and studio in Kinshasa and Brazzaville was run by Greeks. Names like Olympia, Ngoma, Opika and Loningisa, all Greek-run, will all be familiar to Congolese music enthusiasts.

I found myself wondering: what kind of music were these young Greeks listening to back home before they arrived in Congo?

Some help from my friends at Calabash Music (which has been down for a few days, what’s up?) plus a little armchair research later, I offer you Rembetika: Songs of the Greek Underground. Rembetika was a style from the early to mid-20th century that would eventually evolve into Greek popular music.

You’ll hear two Greek Rembetika tracks today, the first by the famous 1930s singer, Rosa Eskenazi, the second a 1936 recording by Jorgos Batis.

It’s interesting to hear the contrast of the music that Congo’s Greek community left behind in their native country with the new sounds that they were producing in Congo. With that in mind, we’ll also hear some music from a few of era’s big stars, Kalle, Rochereau, Nico and Franco.

ps- there’s been much buzz lately about Matthew Lavoie’s African music blog on Voice of America. Great tunes from a humbling musical archive and wealth of knowledge.

Rosa Eskenazy - Eimai Prezakias
Jorgos Batis - Zoula se mia varka bika
O.K. Jazz - On entre OK on sort KO
Orchestre African Jazz - Merengue Fafa
Kalle and Rochereau - Afrika Mokili Mobimbi

Another disc that arrived in the Stern’s package the other day was one I’ve been meaning to buy for a few months: Ken Braun’s compilation of Tabu Ley Rochereau’s music, The Voice of Lightness. It’s even better than I anticipated.

Tabu Ley Rochereau was born Pascal Emmanuel Sinamoyi Tabou in Belgian Congo in 1940. The liner notes taught me that Rochereau earned his name as a boy in Catholic school when he successfully named Colonol Pierre Denfert-Rochereau as a French hero in the Franco-Prussian war. His classmates found that hilarious, so the name stuck.

The compilation covers Tabu Ley’s career throughout the 1960s and 70s, including his work with African Jazz, African Fiesta, Afrisa International and Onaza.

I’d never heard Aon Aon, the first track I’ll post today. Amazing.

The second track, Savon OMO, isn’t necessarily my favourite on the compilation but anyone who has lived in Africa will know why I picked it. Ah, the heady scent of OMO on my badly washed clothes. N’daye of the purple brasier, where are you now?

My favourite track on the compilation is probably Karibou ya Bintou, but I’ll leave that for you to discover on your own…

Tabu Ley Rochereau - Aon Aon
Tabu Ley Rochereau - Savon Omo

Ooh.. a big package from Stern’s arrived yesterday.

A Benn loxo listener suggested that I have a listen to a new collection of Dar Es Salaam star Maestro King Kiki’s rumba from the 70s and 80s, Maestro of Tanzania.

It’s a great collection. My only gripe is the production quality; so much of what is going on in the background is hard to make-out because the levels and acoustics are all over the place. Still, a fun listen.

King Kiki is actually Congolese but he’s one of Tanzania’s most popular musicians from the older generation. We’ve been sort of working a Congolese music in other countries vibe recently, so King Kiki fits nicely into the mix.

I would tell you more but the lack of liner notes and my general lack of east coast African music knowledge leaves me hanging. Once again, I ask the more-knowledgeable-than-I Benn loxo listeners to fill us in.

And thanks for the tips- they keep my collection growing.

Maestro King Kiki - Salza

There’s something really sexy about the word ‘rumba’. It’s also a bit of a misnomer in that over the years it came to represent a variety of Cuban-influenced musical styles popular across Africa, not all of them ‘rumba’ in its original sense.

While the heart of rumba was in the country-formerly-known-as-Zaire, there were many great groups in other countries as well. One reason is the civil war that erupted in Belgium Congo during the 1960s. It forced many Congolese musicians out of the country, a bunch of whom ended up in Tanzania.

Tanzania, located in East Africa just below Kenya, was heavy into the Afro-Congo-Cuban sound during the 1960s. Original Music’s 1983 compilation, The Tanzania Sound, captures this beautifully.

Reading the liner notes this morning I noticed a translation of the lyrics for the Dar Es Salaam Jazz Band’s up-beat track, Fitina Nyingi: “Everyone’s rotten, nothing’s any good, I’m better off alone than with these no-goods.”

Now if that isn’t an upper to get us through a grey Friday, I don’t know what is!

ps- thanks, John.

Nuta Jazz - Janja Yako
Cuban Marimba Band - Beberu
Dar Es Salaam Jazz Band - Fitina Nyingi

Today we’ll hear some more good Kenyan music from the Orchard re-release collection on eMusic. This time it’s a little later, a mid-70s recording by Kenyan rumba star, Habel Kifoto.

Initially a member of the famous “military band”, Maroon Commandos, Habel Kifoto released a bunch of solo tracks as well. Benn loxo friend, Steve Mugiri, can tell you more about the Maroon Commandos - and much more - if you’re curious.

Elsewhere, this guy was in Habel’s daughter’s class in Nairobi and enjoys good night out in Nairobi, while this guy feels guilty about listening to pirated copies of their music.

While you’re at it, hear Kifoto and others on the excellent selection of African podcasts over at Podmatic. (For those who don’t know, you can listen to Benn loxo as a podcast, too.)

Habel Kifoto - Sine Ndoe
Habel Kifoto - Charonyi Ni Wasi

TPOK veteran Antoine Nedule Montswet was born on Christmas day so he always went by the name Noel. As his status as one of the Congolese rumba generation’s greatest guitarists grew he made the switch to Papa Noel.

Noel was Franco’s right-hand man right up until Franco’s death in 1989. Along with Dr. Nico, his guitar sound is synonymous with the Congolese rumba sound that reached its peak in Kinshasa in the 1960s and 70s.

Personally, I find that it’s the best way to wake-up in the morning. Paris is grey, I soon have to work, but I have a large coffee and some rumba is filling my apartment.

You may have already listened to Papa Noel on Benn loxo way back in October, 2004. If you want to hear more, today’s track and many others are available on the great Papa Noel compilation, Bel Ami.

By the way, the photo on today’s post has nothing to do with rumba. Instead, it’s one of my favourite shots by Malian photographer Malick Sidibe. I’ve been really into his work lately, and happened to bump into an exhibit of his photos down in southern France a few weeks ago. If you have any interest in West African culture in the 1960s and 70s I strongly suggest you check-out his photos. Beautiful stuff.

Papa Noel - Bon Samaritain

I went to see Kékélé at La Boule Noire last night. Were any of you there? I’ve already met a bunch of you but I should try to meet more Benn loxo listeners who hit-up African music concerts in and around Paris.

I’ll be at the Mahmoud Ahmed/Ethiopiques show in Bobigny next Friday, then Konomo No. 1 on Sunday at Point Ephemere. Maybe Kofi Olomide on the 12th but that’s not for sure. If you’re thinking about going to any of these shows let me know and I’ll buy you a pint. And hey, if you have other suggestions I’m always up for a concert.

Last night I was thinking about how cool Kékélé looked up there on stage in their tuxedos. They were all smiles, dancing in sync and getting the crowd involved. One of the big reasons why I love African music so much is not only is it great to listen to, but the live shows are consistently fantastic. I try my best to stay away from pan-African stereotypes, but one thing is clear: African musicians, be they from Cap Verde or Sudan, usually put on a great live show. And they don’t need fireworks, jetpacks, screaming teenagers or light shows either.

So many Western musicians have completely forgotten how to be classy on stage and put on a good show.. as performers. I say bring back more tuxedos. “Teach the indie kids how to dance again.” More call-outs to the audience. At least one mandatory 20-minute super-extended version of a previously unreleased song. And play two sets! Or at least do a couple long encores. I don’t care if you’ve released only one album. Do a jam up there, get the people moving and go for it. Kékélé should give lessons.

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.

Kékélé is a group of well-known Congolese rumba musicians who first banded together in 2000 to release Rumba Congo. Rumba music fuses elements of Cuban music brought back to by African slaves with traditional Central African music, dance and rhythm like marimbula, conga and mambo. It was the sound in Zaire during the 60s. I/We love it here at Benn loxo.

Kékélé - Ponton La Belle

While in Argentina I couldn’t help but notice that there are almost no black people - I maybe saw half a dozen during my two weeks there. I guess maybe I’m more sensitive to this fact since I live in Senegal, but still… especially considering it neighbours Brazil. I was hoping to find some African diaspora musical niche there, but that’s a little tough when only 0.001% of the population is of African origin. I could post some tango or folklore, but this is an African music web site so we’ll save that for another day.

The reason why the population is so white/indigenous is a point of great debate in Argentina at the moment. I had the good luck to sit beside an author on a flight from Buenos Aires to Salta who recently published a popular book on the subject. Her theories about Argentina’s lack of a black population are many and varied, and mostly a sad comment on the country’s turbulent history. But again, this site is about African music and not South American history so I’ll let someone who’s more familiar with the subject to fill in the blanks in a comment.

Regardless of its lack of any form of widespread multiculturalism, Argentina is a wonderful place. Friendly people, amazing geography, thick steaks, good wine and great music to go with it. On top of all this Buenos Aires is a sophisticated and incredibly inexpensive city. I have to love a country where I can be swimming under a waterfall during the day, tossing a beer bottle at St. Patty’s that night, trying to tango the next and then sweating in a nightclub at 5am on a Wednesday. Beautiful, clean, safe and interesting.

Now after all that, why not listen to some Congolese music? Ed aka sufi passed me a really great tune before I left on vacation. I must have listened to this track 100 times on planes, buses and trains in Argentina.

I really don’t know much about Mango Negro Kwala-Kwa except that they were a popular rumba group in Congo Brazzaville during the late 60s and early 70s. Today’s track is from 1972 and was their most famous release. Even if you’re not into it at the beginning be sure to listen until the 3rd minute - there’s a great snare beat that kicks in, making this song particularly original and infectuous. You can buy it at Stern’s.

Mando Negro Kwala-Kwa - Massamba M.J.

Orchestra Bella Bella is a classic Congolese rumba group from the 1970s and 80s. They were formed in 1969 by the late Soki Vangu (Maxim Soki) and Soki Dianzenza (Emile Soki). The younger Soki brother, Emile, was only 16 at the time.

They went on to make many recordings during the early 1970s, playing alongside other rumba orchestras in the Zaire scene like Orchestre African Music and Orchestre Lipwa-Lipwa. Pepe Kalle was one of their most well-known members, joining the band in 1972 for a brief stint. Future Congolese stars Kanda Bongo Man and Diblo Dibala also played with Bella Bella in the early 80s.

There are currently three different five-volume “best-ofs” floating around, though I recommend the ones you can buy at Stern’s. Today’s track can be found here and here.

ps- Thanks again, Alex, for the wonderful music.

Orchestre Bella Bella - Tikela Nga Mobali

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.

Kékélé - Bebe Yaourt

I promised another track off the 1972 Africa Dances compilation in my post yesterday, so here you go.

Les Bantous de la Capitale are one of Congo’s oldest bands still playing (as far as I know). Formed in 1959, they were heavily influencial in the development of Congolese rumba and early soukous. Today’s track, Lisie, is a particularly Congolese-laid-back rumba. It makes me think of palm trees, coconuts and slow-moving ceiling fans.

It’s strange listening to such relaxed, happy music when it comes from a country still divided in two by a brutal civil war. All I can say is, “way to go Belgium.” They really gave Portugal a run for their money for the worst colonizer crown. And no, you aren’t allowed to blame it on the king.

Anyway. Enjoy the tropical rumba. Grab a piña colada or something.

Bantous de la Capitale - Lisie