Rumba Chronicles

DO MUSICIANS DIE YOUNG?

November 16, 2024 - 11:47 PM DO MUSICIANS DIE YOUNG? In musical discourses, it isn't strange to hear discussants say musicians die young. This can be attributed to the norm, that death isn't welcome at age, and kith and kin of the bereaved will also watch despair even if the deceased is a centenarian. There is no appropriate time for death as man will always wish to live longer, possibly because of the uncertainty about the eventuality of man, after death. The pertinent question here is, do musicians die young as alleged? Let's have a musical safari around Africa to either confirm or debunk the myth. From down South, we choose two three superstars representing three genres, reggae, jazz, and......

MUSICAL MOTHERLANDS

November 14, 2024 - 05:37 PM MUSICAL MOTHERLANDS THE TWO CONGOS are captured in Franco's song, CONGO MIBALE, which translates to the two Congos.In this song, an OK Jazz song, released on the Ngoma label in 1968, Franco shared what he thought of the two Congos. The probable lineup of the day was Franco on solo, Simaro on rhythm, and Celi Bisthou on bass. Dele Pedro on sax and Christophe Djali on trumpets. Franco sings the lead vocals as he is backed up by Boyibanda, Youlou, and Lola. The theme is colonialism. Franco wonders why there are two countries named Congo yet these are the same people living in the same place. The capital of DRC, Kinshasa, and the capital of the Republic of Congo, called Brazaville, lie......

THE CONGOLESE UPCOMING MUSICAL GEM

November 08, 2024 - 07:05 PM THE CONGOLESE UPCOMING MUSICAL GEM Rumba Congolese is a male-dominated genre; however, there are women who have risen against this oddity to make a name for themselves and leave a mark in the genre's history. Such is songbird Trecy Le Cayenne, the Congolese sensation who has expanded the contributions of female Congolese musicians to new heights. Historically, Congolese rumba evolved from a hybrid of local folk dances fused with imported influences from other civilizations, such as Latin America, and adapted to modernity. The element of traditional folklore meant that the participation of women was often peripheral and at times limited to dancing. From the days of Pauline Lisanga at Ngoma......

WHO INVENTED SAXOPHONE?

November 07, 2024 - 05:33 PM ADOLPHE SAX Had the trumpet not blown for him on 7th February 1894, Adolphe Sax would be celebrating his 210th birthday today. Adolphe invented the saxophone, a wind instrument that is the heart of music across several genres, with prominence in Jazz. Working as a music instrument maker, Adolphe, born in Belgium, was the son of Joseph Sax, a renowned maker of brass instruments, harps, and guitars. He made the saxophone invention in 1942, improving on a flute and a clarinet. He also made other inventions that didn't make much prominence. These were the saxo-tromba and the sax-horn. Without his music genius in innovation, music wouldn't be what it is today as the saxophone has continued to......

ANOTHER AFRISA BIG NAME

November 04, 2024 - 12:49 PM NDOMBE OPETUM: ANOTHER AFRISA BIG NAME By Jerome Ogola Opetum, also called Pepe Ndombe, is easily one of the biggest names, in the second generation of Congolese music, the generation that also produced Grand Kalle of African Jazz and Franco of OK Jazz. Ndombe Opetum sang with two of Congo's greatest musical outfits, OKJ and Afrisa International. He carved a niche for himself while appearing for African Fiesta National in 1968. The Tabuley-led band, ran into loggerheads with the Mobutu administration, over its failure to appear for an end-year concert, prompting its ban, from performing for a short period. This led to a mass exodus of musicians, among them singer Mangwana,......

TABULEY'S AFRICAN FIESTA NATIONALE

October 25, 2024 - 05:44 AM TABULEY'S AFRICAN FIESTA NATIONALE TRUMPETERS Willy mbembe, Vieux Biolo, Jean trompette GUITARISTS Lokassa Ya Mbongo (rhythm) partly hidden,, the late Atel Mbumba (soloist) and my friend Mzee Faugus Izeidi on mi solo This was the same lineup that travelled for the Olympia historic concert. A typical song done by this lineup is hortense, a Ndombe Opetum composition of 1970. Remember the band rebranded to Afrisa International after the Olympia tour Jabulani Radio Livestream Next Track Track History ...

TSHITA TSHIMA aka JEAN JEAN

October 17, 2024 - 04:23 AM TSHITA TSHIMA aka JEAN JEAN By the Jerome Ogola We are still celebrating Grand Maitre, the King of African music, who died on 12th October 1989. Music is teamwork and so it is very inaccurate to credit the success of OKJ to Franco alone. For a song to come into existence, it takes the input of several players. The composer only creates a skeleton which is made perfect by the expertise of others. These others aren't necessarily musicians and they too merit some recognition. At any given time, OKJ had a galaxy of stars, from within and outside the frontiers of DRC. Dele Pedro the alto saxman is Nigerian, Musekiwa the tenor saxophonist was Zimbabwean. Mangwana the singer was born......

THIS IS WHY YOU MUST KNOW VERCKYS

October 15, 2024 - 07:38 AM THIS IS WHY YOU MUST KNOW VERCKYS. By the Jerome Ogola 1. He was a saxophone wizard. No one was good enough for Verckys in the history of Rumba Congolaise and beyond. He is creative and versatile. It is so good that he might be in charge of the instrument, selected to play it when Jesus finally comes back. 2. He is the biggest sax player and most recognised, to have played with Franco's TPOK Jazz (1961-1969). 3. He was the first Indigenous African to own a recording studio when he opened state of the art (then)......

THE TEAM THAT BLEW OK JAZZ TO SUCCESS

October 05, 2024 - 04:48 PM THE TEAM THAT BLEW OK JAZZ TO SUCCESS In our series of understanding the brains behind the success of OKJ, as part of celebrating Franco's legacy to mark the 35th anniversary of his death, we seek to closely examine the team's wind instrument section. This was an integral part of the ensemble since its inception. For beginners, Congolese rumba is most clustered into five or six generations for the purpose of study, and this is done in chronology, with the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and/ or sixth, as we have dealt with it deeply in a separate post. The sax made an entry into Congolese music during the second generation but became more prominent during the second and died......

THE GUITAR PHILOSOPHY OF CONGOLESE RUMBA

September 16, 2024 - 06:33 PM THE GUITAR PHILOSOPHY OF CONGOLESE RUMBA Every ensemble has a specific genre of music they specialize in. It is the type of music the band does that determines the guitar arrangements. Congolese rumba features a minimum of three guitars: the bass, the rhythm, and the solo. The music also features percussions and drums as part of the major ingredients, and saxophones, trumpets, clarinets, trombones, keyboards, additional guitars, and others follow in as spices. The guitars are very easy to differentiate. The bass guitar is played from a special, four-stringed (five, six, or even more in some cases, as is the case with my good friend Sammy Kasule's) instrument. The product is what comes......

Rumba Chronicles

DO MUSICIANS DIE YOUNG?

MUSICAL MOTHERLANDS

THE CONGOLESE UPCOMING MUSICAL GEM

WHO INVENTED SAXOPHONE?

ANOTHER AFRISA BIG NAME

TABULEY'S AFRICAN FIESTA NATIONALE

TSHITA TSHIMA aka JEAN JEAN

THIS IS WHY YOU MUST KNOW VERCKYS

THE TEAM THAT BLEW OK JAZZ TO SUCCESS

THE GUITAR PHILOSOPHY OF CONGOLESE RUMBA

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