Les Bantous De La Capitale

Across the river from Kinshasa is a city, the capital of The Republic of Congo, Brazzaville. Musicians traveled frequently between the two cities and Brazzaville even served as an asylum for some artists who were exiled for some period of time from Congo-Kin due to lyrical content.

This sister-city is the home to Les Bantous De La Capitale. This band is one of the many offshoots of OK Jazz. Founding member of OK Jazz (along with Franco) Jean Serge Essous, a gifted saxophone and clarinet player, left OK Jazz for African Jazz before founding Les Bantous De La Capitale with Congo-Brazzavilians De La Lune(also a founding OK Jazz member), Celestine Kouka and Edo Nganga in 1959. Like most of the other Congolese bands, Les Bantous De La Capitale has had several band members come and go. Among them, vocalists Tchico Tchicaya, Kosmos Kapitza, Pamelo Mounk'a, and guitarists Papa Noel and Samba Mascott.

There is a distinctness to Le Bantous' sound that I can't quite put my finger on. Someone more versed in musical terms would probably be able to describe it but they made great music and are definitely one of the best bands of their time. There is a certain freshness to the vocal performances (especially where Tchico Tchicaya is featured as his voice is very unique and easy to spot), the melodies, harmonies and lyrics, that pull in the listener. Guy played a great example of this on last weeks broadcast, Isabelle. Isabelle is about a man who finds out a girl he was in love with left for the other side of the river, Kinshasa. He heard that she had gotten married and he's not sure if it's true or not but the news hurts him. He misses Isabelle. Tchico Tchicaya sings lead on this song.

Another is El Mancero-Mayeya. I haven't any idea what the song is about because it is sung in Spanish but the composition is fantastic. On some parts of the song it sounds as though they have incorporated "Guantanamera" into the lyrics. It's a really nice song from a great band. Enjoy the sounds.

PEACE...

information for today's entry taken from:

www.answers.com
www.kenyapage.net

From Congo To Nigeria...

Like I said in yesterday's blog last night's show was a repeat. Show #12 was actually a repeat of Show #3 (you can hear show number two by clicking the play list over to the right under the slide show). That show was a continuation of a series of shows that Guy had mapping out the history of rhumba in the Congo musically and also through the knowledge he has for the music. He covered so much in just those two hours so beginning Monday I will try to piggy back as best I can off of what he's said and bring a good weeks worth of blogs.

Today I want to introduce you to an artist I just discovered. Some of you may know him already...His name is Tchico Tchicaya and he is from 'the other side of the river', Congo-Brazzaville. TCHICO TCHICAYA



From his 1981 release "Jeannot" I bring to you "From Congo To Nigeria"
DL HERE: TCHICO TCHICAYA - FROM CONGO TO NIGERIA

I've learned that Congolese music was (still is?) massively well received by the rest of the Continent. Brazzaville is close, so it's no surprised you'd find artists there doing what the musicians Au Kin were doing. But I was fascinated to find out that bands from Kenya and Tanzania and the like also played ya miziki ya Congo (congolese music). I can understand the appeal of this music. It's sad that "World" music doesn't get any real play in the United States. Hopefully one day that can all change.

anyway...

PAN-AFRICANISM IS THE WAY TO GO...more on that in another blog, another time. Stay tuned :)

PEACE