Like peanut butter and jelly, Saturdays and soukous music is the perfect pairing that never gets old. When the sun is out, blue sky above, everyone at the parks a record like this from Bumba Massa is the vibe you can’t go wrong with.
My theory is that Colombiano who created Zumba back in the 90s was actually listening to some Congolese Soukous when he came up with the workout sensation that swept the world. Just listen to this record by the late great Pépé Kallé and guarantee you’ll be up moving and ready to get dance workout on.
Just some super feel-good Soukous by Celi-Bittsu (one of the many off-shoots of Orchestre T.P.O.K. Jazz) to keep your Saturday moving. #RecordOfTheDay
Today being #45Friday (on Fridays folks on Twitter and Instagram share pics of their favorite 7″ 45rpm records) it gives me the perfect opportunity to share one of my favorite 7″ singles from the past year—Trio Madjesi et Orcestre Sosoliso’s Tshitsha. Trio Madjesi were one of the slew of “youth groups” that Zaire was churring out in the late 60s-early 70s. The trio of singers emerged out of Verkey’s group Orchestere Vévé and who’s name Madjesi was formed from combining their own nick names: Matadidi, Djeskain, and Sinatra. As you’ll notice it didn’t end with combining of names. This may be one of the few song you’ll hear combining Spanish, Lingala and English in one amazing soukous track – just wait until the 3:30 mark.
In 1969 James Brown made the historic trip to Zaire where he performed several shows in Kinshasa that was originally apart of the promotion of the Muhammad Ali vs George Forman “Rumble in the Jungle” fight. Those shows had a huge impact on the many young performers like Trio Madjesi. Check out this awesome 25 minute clip from 1973 TV appearance where you can easily see how they incorporated a lot of James Brown’s show style performance. My favorite part comes half way through when they perform in the full Zaire national team football kit while juggling a ball—or rather try to (you recall Zaire qualified the only time in their history for the 1974 World Cup where they didn’t fair so well.) Enjoy!
-Jacobo
For this podcast we decided to try something we have never done before — set out to do a show without any records from our collection. Instead we went to a local record swap meet with a set budget of $50 each to create our playlist for the day.
After a full afternoon of digging through many boxes of records from all over the world we headed straight back to La Sala to see if we spent our money wisely. We think we did pretty well, but have a listen and let us know what you think.
Playlist:
Fela Ransome-Kuti and Africa ’70 with Ginger Baker – Let’s Start
20th Century Steel Band – Heaven and Hell is on Earth
Monarco – Silenciar A Mangueira
Avohou Pierre Et L’Orchestre Black Santiago – Makoba Houi Dé O
Al Hirt – Harlem Hendoo
Chico Che Y La Crisis – Sagitario
The Doves – Give Peace to the People
Orquestre Le Peuple – Massavi Fololo Y’ Africa
The Numonics – You Lied
El Gran Combo – El Jolgoria (Wepa-Wepa)
Please excuse our recent absence from this space. We’ve been doing some remodeling and maintenance, but we’re back now! We’re still very excited to continue sharing more music and culture. In fact, last week we got together and recorded our very first Pelangacast live from our LP clubhouse! The concept is not to have the typical radio “programmed show,” but instead to invite you into our cozy wall-to-wall collection of culture on vinyl as we share stories and discoveries from our musical addictions.
Below is our first episode with more to come soon. Have a listen, and let us know what you think.
Playlist
Mack Joss Et Massoko 83 – Danger
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Have a seat, relax and let me pour you some sweet Gabonese Soukous. No need for Red Bull, put this one on and you’ll be flying with a steady groove all day long. I think you’ll love how this tune, La Vie by Mack Joss bubbles up non stop with some of the best feel good guitars and horns you’ll likely hear.
Salud!
dj pozole
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