May 03, 2009

Maquis

This post contains not one, but two of my favourite albums from a Congolese group in East Africa.

Started in Kamina (Katanga province, Congo) in 1963 as Rocken Success, through Rocken Band (Lubumbashi, 1964), Super Gaby (Likasi, 1965- 1967), Super Theodore (back in Kamina, 1967) and a few more, the band members in February 1972 voted to become Chimbuiza Chinsense la Maquis du Zaire, which a few months later when they set off for what was supposed to be a tour of East Africa (but from which they never returned) was shortened to Maquis du Zaire.

You can read more about the band in Werner Graebner's notes of the "Muziki wa Dansi" CD. And if you want to read more about Congolese bands in East Africa or East African music in general the sites of Alastair Johnston (muzikifan) and Doug Patterson (eastafricanmusic) are essential.

To me it is one of the great mysteries of African music that these two albums from 1982 have never been re-released in digital form. These two lps are just bursting with energy and power!
Maquis has a turbo rhythm section, great horns and some of the very best Franco-like guitars, especially in "Masua", "Bondela Moninga", and in that killer track "Sérieux Ya Mukoko".
As far as I am concerned the two records don't have weaker tracks....

EOM 501
EOM 503

Unfortunately I don't have copies of the sleeves. So I am borrowing this picture of a single from the same "Edition Omaco" record label.

EDIT: Cheeku has provided us with a copy of the sleeve of one of the two lp's (originally from Matt at Matsuli's - who by the way has posted some great east african 45s).
Here is the front and here the back.
And thanks David from Ambiance Congo for a copy of the same sleeve!
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9 comments:

  1. icastico3 May 2009 at 21:47

    Some good energy in the tracks I have heard so far.

    Thanks as always.

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  2. matt4 May 2009 at 02:52

    Thanks for this. You don't know how long I've been looking for these!
    Just this last week I posted a mix of more well known East African soukous that was reissued on a Polydor lable offshoot called Sango...almost 3 hours of non-stop sweetness...you can check it here:
    http://matsuli.blogspot.com

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  3. Anonymous4 May 2009 at 05:55

    Panis Angelicus! These are sweet, and thanks so much.

    joe

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  4. jeanluc5 May 2009 at 01:27

    Very nice.
    Great mixture between tanzanian rumba and lingala...

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  5. Anonymous5 May 2009 at 13:25

    Thank you for discovering this band so fresh and so compact.

    Thanks also to contributors for the folder, not so beautiful as the music.

    Of course they deserve a reissue, but with a sleeve according to the quality and elegance of their music.

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  6. Timothy5 May 2009 at 14:40

    Excellent. This music was part of the East African skyline in the 1980s and it touches the hearts of all those who were born in that part of the world. Thanks for sharing these priceless treasures.

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  7. WrldServ6 May 2009 at 07:26

    @Ngoni: hahaha... I agree the sleeve doesn't really fit the music.

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  8. grooVemonzter22 July 2009 at 09:36

    These are some brilliant albums. Thank you very much!

    Cole

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  9. Marc5 September 2009 at 06:40

    Thank you so much for making these available! I had EOM501 on cassette that I picked up in Kenya in 1983 and it has long since disintegrated. For many years this was one of my favorite albums and I am happy to have found it again!

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