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 with the third generation. The first generation is that of Wendo, the second is that of Franco, the third is that of Verckys, the fourth is that of Sokous, and the fifth is that of Wenge.
The other prominent wind instruments in Congolese music are the clarinet, the flute, the trombone, and the trumpet. I cannot trace any flute in OKJ songs. This instrument is, however, very prominent in the African Jazz song recorded in Paris in the latter days of the band's life. The flute in the songs was played by Gonzalez, a Cuban renowned flutist and musician. At OKJ, there were plenty of saxophones, plenty of trumpets, and very little trombone and clarinet. The band's very first line-up featured Jean Serge Easous from Brazzaville. He played both clarinet and saxophone, but in his stint at OKJ, he only played clarinet, the instrument that you hear whistle in Alliance mode success, etc.
He and his other fellow Brazzavillian left on 29th December 1956, and the resulting void was filled by among others the legendary tenor sax player Isaac Musekiwa. Musekiwa, a Zimbabwean, had been for three years a member of African Jazz.
He was the very first indigenous African to play sax in any Congolese song. Musekiwa, who had also been linked to King Michael Enock, who made a name in Tanzania's muziki wa densi, as a saxophone player and a solo guitarist with both DDC and other bands, as a relative. Musekiwa quit OKJ in the mid-1960s and had some featured for Vedette Jazz, and then with Orchestra Revolution, which had several OKJ rebels. He, however, made a comeback to OKJ in 1984 and played his magical tenor sax in the hit song Mario.
Musekiwa died in the early 1990s. The next saxman was Kiamuangana Mateta, who specialized in the alto sax. Verckys joined OKJ in 1961 and left the band in 1967 when they had a bitter disagreement with Franco. He went on to create his own Orchestra Veve, which took the country's music by storm in the 1970s.
He also created his own record studio and label, Orchestra Veve. Verckys was a stylish saxophonist who created the wonderful animation in the song Course au pouvoir that captures the altercation between Franco and his erstwhile nemesis, Kwame Munsi. Franco 'argues' his case in the song with his guitar.
When Verckys left, the band had a vacuum and did several performances without a saxophonist until Bavon, Franco's younger brother, learned of his predicaments and 'donated' Kasongo Wa Kasongo to him. He would later become Franco's driver and aide. He is the one who drove Franco across the border from Belgium to his last concert in Melkweg. He participated in very many songs. Others were Kunsita Reubens, Lunama Mbemba, Empopo Loway, Sax Matalanza, and Michel Sax.
The trumpeters were Zinga Ngole, who played that trumpet in Franco's tribute, Lomage a Luambo, in a way that makes one forget that they were supposed to be mourning Franco. The other trumpeter was Kapitena, Adamo Seye, who later moved to Tanzania, where he played with Mzee Makasy's Orchestra Makassy.
The only trombone player at OKJ was Dally Makamba, who had played with Veve. Others were Nino Malapet, who paid for clarinet and trombone; Albino Kalombo, who played sax and trombone; and Nigerian Dele Pedro, who paid for sax. Dele Pedro joined the band when the band was touring Lagos. He and Musekiwa were the only OKJ musicians who could speak English. He brought some aspects of high-life music into OKJ. Many other players of the instruments had stints with the band. In the band's music, just like in many other Congolese rumba songs, the music relies on the drums and the three guitars, but the wind section is an important spice.
However, there are a few OKJ songs that don't feature any wind instruments. Among them is laissez-passez, which was coincidentally composed by Matalanza, a sax player. When this writer inquired from Michelino why the anomaly happened, the guitarist's response was that they were experimenting with the guitar seben. Michelino played the solo as Franco did the seben in chacun pour soir in the same album, while Michelino played the two guitars in suite lettre (2) to create one of the rarest incidences where Franco sings without playing any guitar in a song.
BY JEROME OGOLA
Jabulani Radio Livestream
Next Track
Track History