COMPOSERS: Antoine Moundanda,Wendo Kolosoy
LABELS: Marabi
WORKS: El Congo
PERFORMER: Wendo Kolosoy, Antoine Moundanda; Rumbanella Band, Victoria Bakolo Miziki
CATALOGUE NO: 46805.2
The migration of Latin-American music back to its African roots has had a high profile from Orchestre Baobab, and a release of Congolese Rumba, EL CONGO, should find a receptive public.
Laid-back Caribbean pace migrated along with the distinctive rhythms. Wendo Kolosoy and Antoine Moundanda, two veterans of the genre’s mid-20th-century heyday, get stuck in with vigour, while the young Rumbanella Band which has most of the tracks takes things more easily.
The band’s textures are rather unvaried, but strong guitar solos and an expressive high-voiced finale keep the sequence alive.