Customer Reviews

Rumba'Round Africa

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

...you may need to check your pulse! This album absolutely never gets old, and even the early 60's tracks (recorded in the most primitive studios) have a great live feel and sound. Besides this, the guitarist is from another planet. Nothing like it anywhere. My roommate and I always had this on rotation at parties, but when it would come on and no one would notice, we just had no idea why everyone wouldn't drop their plates and listen, or even dance. Most people have a tin ear. I stole the bass line to one song while playing for a stodgy Presbyterian church, and I lie not, for the first time people clapped their hands and I felt the music "lock in." I am not a dancer at all, but "Baby Technical" makes it a crime not to. Magic music, a unique blend of South American rhythms and vocals with a distinctively African touch and melodies, and as I said, a guitarist not to be forgotten. This is 100% original, honest music from one of the most popular bands in all Africa at the time, who were forced by war to move to cruise ships--yet they just continued to develop. And it's catchy as heck. Buy this immediatly. I now constantly bid on Ebay for the few EP's and records that pop up (this album is a "greatest hits" compilation), but some French fan is always willing to pay upwards of $50 for a single in poor shape. I can only hope for more re-issues, because the music is out there, but thankfully we have this extensive compilation, which was itself originally rare--I paid $50 four years aago for it.

An absolutely delightful set of tunes by one of the best Congolese bands of the 1960s. True to the album title, this features plenty of tunes directly influenced by Cuban dance music, yet with a sweet African guitar twist. The first half dozen tracks on here are almost pure Cuban son, with chiming, hypnotic electric guitars and a dash of calypso thrown in for good measure. Things get funk with a cool French-language "twist" tune (Bill Haley-flavored rocknroll, that would have made Johnny Hallyday proud...), and then coasts into a pleasant set of more mature, mellow dance tunes. Great record... highly recommended!