RhoDeo 1417 Roots

Hello, it's the final post coming from Congo today, i'd say it's a country that has had a bad reputation but the human spirit is stronger as you can hear thru it's wonderful music.


Historically, the region of the Congo was a vast geographical area of equatorial Africa located in the tropical wet forest of Central Africa called Congolian forests. It also owes its name to the predominant ethnic group in the region, ruled by Kingdom of Kongo founded towards the end of the 14th century and extended from 1390 to 1914. Although the span of rule of the kingdom varied, in its greatest extent, the Kingdom of Kongo reached from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Kwango River in the east, and from the Congo River in the north to the Kwanza River in the south. The kingdom largely existed from c. 1390 to 1891 as an independent state, and from 1891 to 1914 as a vassal state of the Kingdom of Portugal. The Congo River, its main river, flows through the region forming the Congo Basin.

Some groupings advocate a return to one Congolese homeland on the basis of the historical kingdom. Very notably, the Bundu dia Kongo movement advocates reviving the kingdom through secession from Angola, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Gabon. The nowadays geographic region spans across the Republic of the Congo (former French Congo), Democratic Republic of the Congo (former Zaïre/Belgian Congo), and the Angolan exclave of Cabinda (former Portuguese Congo) which lies (bizarly !) between the Republic and the Democratic Republic and produces lot's of oil. Ah yes big business making lots of money with Congolese resources.


Ok the coming weeks we're hearing about the music from this African jungle heart, it's a strange place for Westerners, life is cheap and emotions rise quickly. Religion and music deliver the much needed coherance  so for the coming 3 or 4 weeks we will present stars some of which have released many albums most of these never reached the Western public or even the great Discogs database. Today a man most famous for the structural changes he implemented to soukous music. The previous approach was to sing several verses and have one guitar solo at the end of the song. He revolutionized soukous by encouraging guitar solos after every verse and even sometimes at the beginning of the song. His form of soukous gave birth to the kwassa kwassa dance rhythm where the hips move back and forth while the hands move to follow the hips ........N'joy

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Élizabeth Tshala Muana Muidikay, alias Tshala Muana, (Lubumbashi, May 13, 1958) is a singer and dancer from Congo-Kinshasa. She started her artistic career as a dancer for the musical band Tsheke Tsheke Love in 1977. Later she became the leading singer of Mutuashi, the Afro-Cuban-influenced dance music of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tshala is known for her sensuous stage outfits and extremely sexy dancing. The Baluba folk music tradition has also played an important role in the development of Muana's sound. This is a compilation of the best recordings by a singer whose reputation just keeps growing -- and rightly so. Muana and her chorus work almost as one unit, and the backings balance fluid guitars, tough disco elements, and jaunty traps; punchy horns that blend R&B licks with older Afro/Carib references; and local traditional elements to subtle and splendid effect. She has the best voice of all the Zairian women singers.

Tshala Muana - The Best Of Tshala Muana  (flac  357mb)

01 Nasi - Nabali 5:51
02 Lwa - Touye 5:47
03 Ndeka ya Samuel 8:25
04 Kizoungo - Zoungo 6:14
05 Tshibola 5:05
06 Bena Moyo 6:01
07 Seli Pere 6:02
08 Karibou Yangu 6:15
09 Mbanda Matiere 5:59
10 Koumba 6:11

Tshala Muana - The Best Of Tshala Muana  (ogg 143mb)

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This surveys the music from two Central African nations that sit on either side of the Congo River; one is currently know as the Democratic Republic of Congo (previously known as the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and Congo-Kinshasa) and the other is the much smaller Republic of Congo (aka Congo-Brazzaville). The 1960s and ’70s, the era covered by this set, were a great time for these two countries, both of which have been laid low by military conflict and kleptocratic goverment. Their colonial masters (Belgium and France) had relinquished control, their economies were growing, and the growing urban populations had growing access to modern pleasures like electricity and Western pop music. Which isn’t to say that sounds from outside Africa were new; this neck of the world had already been plugged into international trade routes for 400 years, and Cuban music, in particular, had held sway for decades. But the proliferation of resources and the assertion of a common Congolese identity spurred an efflorescence of home-grown music characterized by ringing, repetitive lead guitars, punchy horn punctuation, easy-swaying poly-rhythmic grooves, and Cuban-influenced vocal melodies known variously as rumba, soukous, and African jazz. The Caribbean elements are especially noteworthy because singers like Franco, Tabu Ley, and L’Orchestre Bella Bella’s Soki Bros. were more likely to sing in Lingala, French or Kikongo. But just as it doesn’t take much rum to spike a drink, a bit of Cuban melody can dominate the flavor of a tune, and those sinuous lines, often buffered by studio reverb, are among the elements that make it easy for an American living in another century who doesn’t understand a word they’re singing to like this music. It's 2,5 hours of excitement to finalize the Congolese stopover here..

VA - Congo Rhythm  (flac  364mb)

01 Ku Kisantu - Franco et le TP OK Jazz
02 El Congo - Rumbanella Band
03 Nokomitunaka - Verckys
04 Celica Souvenir - Sam Mangwana
05 En Memoire - Vicky Et OK Jazz
06 Karibou - Afrisa International
07 Tozonga - Franco et le TP OK Jazz
08 Africa Mokili - Rumbanella Band
09 Kaful Mayay - Afrisa International
10 La Veite - Franco et le TP OK Jazz
11 Pauline - Docteur Nico
12 Savon Omo - African Fiesta
13 Si Tu Bois - OK Jazz
14 Nakota - Orchestre Negro Succes

VA - Congo Rhythm  (ogg 157mb)

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VA - Congo Rhythm 2  (flac  431mb)

01 Tiers Monde - Tiers Monde
02 Biatondi - African Fiesta
03 Bholen Mwana - Orchestre Negro Succes
04 Marceline - Franco et le TP OK Jazz
05 N'dia - Verckys
06 Bowao - Tiers Monde
07 L'age Et L'amour - Rumbanella Band
08 Khahagwe - Camille Feruzi
09 Kinsiona - Franco et le TP OK Jazz
10 Cha Cha Cha Bay - Camille Feruzi
11 Georgette Eckins - Sam Mangwana
12 Boya Ye - Mbilia Bel
13 Yaka Mamma - Lucie Eyenga
14 Revolver - Franco et le TP OK Jazz

VA - Congo Rhythm 2  (ogg 152mb)

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