The Rough Guide to Congo Gold
World Music Network

Once upon a time, you had to work hard to find the best music from the Golden Age of Congolese Music. Then in 2005 along came Golden Afrique, Vol 2, a double album that served up the cream of the crop from 1956 to 1982, going back to unearth some lovely Franco tracks with the accordion player Camille Feruzi, and coming forward to the sublime ‘Doublé Doublé’ by Nyboma.

As if that was not enough, a year later the Syllart label presented African Pearls, Vol 1: Congo – Rumba on the River, more narrowly focussed on the period 1957 to 1967. Sheer bliss.

Surely between them those two collections would give us everything we could need. No, there’s always more, and this compilation by renowned expert Martin Sinnock includes several tracks that can safely be described as essential milestones of Congolese music: ‘Marie Louise’ by Wendo (from 1948), ‘Azda’(1973)  by Franco & TPOK Jazz and ‘Eswi Yo Wapi’ by Mbilia Bel with Tabu Ley Rochereau (1983).

‘Marie Louise’ is billed here as by Wendo Kolosy and Henry Bowane, acoustic guitarists who laid the foundation for everything that followed, finding a way to combine Cuban and local rhythms. The chorus chant in ‘Azda’ is ‘Vee wee, vee wee, vee wee’ and it is exactly what it sounds like: an ad for a VW car dealer. As for ‘Eswi Yo Wapi’, that has been a desert island disc for me ever since I first heard John Peel play it soon after its release in 1983, over nine minutes of effervescent energy that never loses its infectious power to attract and hold our attention. Mbilia Bel had just become the featured singer with Tabu Ley Rochereau’s Orchestra, and this was the song that not only established her reputation but briefly made her more famous than her boss. The guitarist who drives the track from start to finish is Dino Vangu.

In addition to those classics are many more that are either new to me or passed me, including ‘Tchimuranga Zimbabwe’ by Sam Manwana, whose specialised in making music for people in the countries bordering Zaire. There are two by Rochereau, another by Franco, and only one (the fantastic ‘Parafili’ by Grand Kalle & L’African Jazz) that is also on one of the earlier compilations (African Pearls).

If you don’t have an album of Congolese music, this has to be the one to start you off. If you’ve already got one or both of the other compilations mentioned here, you are going to have to get this too.

While we’re on the subject of Rough Guides, there have been several other excellent releases in the past year or so, notably Latin-Arabia (including ‘Ya Nour el Ein’ by Amr Diab and ‘Alabina’ by Ishtar y Los Niños de Sara); Africa & Middle East (covering the same ground as the third edition of the indispensable series of books, The Rough Guide to World Music, Vol 1); West African Gold (inc Ghana and Nigeria as well as Mali, Senegal and Guinea); and North African Café (inc Smadj, Abdel Gadir Salim and Tarik).

CG