Babla

I am sorry for the delay in posting. There seems to be some mild form of flu going 'round. I myself haven't been affected - so far (knock on wood)-, but have had to attend to & serve those who have....

Anyway, I have been planning this post for a while, but kept postponing it. The reason for this is that I have been trying to figure out the truth about the origin of the song "Mokolo Nakokufa". Rochereau claims it as his composition, and given the poetic/philosophic (or - if you like - intellectualistic) content it seems more than likely that this is true. However, it may also be true, as some Congolese sources claim, that Rochereau was 'inspired' by a song Wendo Kolosoy performed, accompanied on guitar by another legend from those early days of Congolese music Honoré Liengo, at the funeral of Paul Mwanga* (see here, here and here) in 1966.
I have come to the conclusion that it seems unlikely the real sequence of cause and effect will ever be revealed.

It does seem a bit ironic, however, that Rochereau claimed to be the heir of Wendo ("Mokitano ya Wendo"), after he invited Wendo (who was unemployed after Ngoma closed down in 1966) to join his African Fiesta National, - only to subsequently treat him with little respect, even to the point where Wendo (and others) was left stranded in Brussels without pay....

The version of "Mokolo Nakokufa" I want to post is not the one by Rochereau (which by the way can by found in this post on the Global Groovers blog), but the one by Sam Mangwana, who was a member of African Fiesta at the time when Wendo joined.
Mangwana recorded this version at a time when he had decided to leave the T.P. O.K. Jazz and (again) go his own way. He was after all, as Franco accurately described him in an interview in 1987, "cavalier seul" ('lone rider'), albeit one with a foot in both 'schools' of Congolese music.

The lyrics are slightly different from Rochereau's version. Sam leaves out the personal references Rochereau made, and Rochereau's final lines about a ndumba (unmarried woman or girl) thinking of what will become of her only worldly goods, i.e. her wig and her clothes. But he also has two additions to the lyrics, the first of these being the addition of "nkisi" (which translates as "medicin"; but usually meaning "traditional medicin" or even witchcraft) as a possible cause of death, and the second are two additional, spoken lines in which Sam also addresses Rochereau with the rather cryptic "Tabou, oh words".

Here is the translation of Mangwana's version, borrowed from Aboubacar Siddikh's YouTube post:

(chorus) Mokolo nakokufa	The day I will day
Mokolo ya liwa	The day of my death
Mokolo mosusu ngai nakanisi	The other day I was wondering
Naloti lokola ngai nakolala	I dreamt as I was sleeping
Aa mama aa Mokolo ya liwa	Ah mother, the day of my death
Mokolo nakokufa nani akolela ngai?	The day I day, who will weep for me?
Nakoyeba te	I don't know
Tika namilela	Let me weep for myself
Liwa ya nzamba soki mpe liwa ya mai	Death in the forest or in water?
Liwa ya nkisi soki mpe liwa ya mpasi mama	Death by witchcraft or of illness
Mokolo ya liwa, mama	The day of my death, Mother
Mokolo nakokufa, ngai moto ya mbongo	The day I will die, I the rich man
Nakanisa nini kaka mosolo o?	What will I think of, but my property?
Nakanisa lopango na bakaminyo	I'll think of my houses and lorries
Nakanisa bana ngai natinda kelasi koyekola	I'll think of the children I sent to school
Mokolo ya liwa, mama	The day of my death, mother
Mokolo nakokufa, ngai moto ya pauvre	The day I die, I the poor man
Nakanisa nini kaka bana na ngai?	What will I think of but my children?
Nakanisa kaka mpasi ya mokili ezali kotikala	I'll only think of the problems of the world that will be left
Mokolo Nakokufa	The day I die
Mokolo nakokufa ngai moto ya kwiti	The day I die, I the drunkard
Nakanisa kopo ya masanga na ngai	I'll only think of my glass of beer
Nakanisa nini kaka suka ya sanza	What will I think of but the end of the month
Tango namelaka ngai na baninga	When I used to drink with my friends
Aa mama, mokolo ya liwa	Ah mother, the day of my death
Mokolo nakokufa nani akolela ngai?	The day I die, who will weep for me?
Nakoyeba te	I don't know
Tika namilela	Let me weep for myself
Liwa ya nzamba soki mpe liwa ya mai	Death in the forest or death in water?
Liwa ya nkisi soki mpe liwa ya mpasi mama	Death by witchcraft or of illness?
Aa mama, mokolo ya liwa.	Ah mother, the day of my death
(spoken) Liwa, elombe ayaka nayo centre na la vie	Death, the hero who comes with you to the centre of life
(spoken) Tabu, O Maloba	Tabu, Oh, words!
Mokolo nakokufa ngai moto ya kwiti	The day I die, I the drunkard
Nakanisa kopo ya masanga na ngai	I'll think of my glass of beer
Nakanisa nini kaka suka ya sanza	What will I think of but the end of the month
Tango nakutana ngai na baninga	When I met with friends
Aa mama, mokolo ya liwa	Ah mother, the day of my death
(chorus) Mokolo ya Liwa	The day of my death
Mokolo nakokufa	The day I will die

Sonafric SAF 1819

This is not all.
I also would like to share this single with you which Sam Mangwana recorded just before or even while he was working with Franco. It is from 1973 and features Sam with a group called "orchestre Beya Maduma". This Beya Maduma was a sax player who in the sixties played with Negro Succes, and in the mid-seventies with orchestre Vévé and from there with Bana Ngenge, before moving to Abidjan and working on the famine relief project 'Operation Africa' in 1985. My favourite of these two songs, both of which are very much in the African Jazz/Fiesta style, is the B-side "Bigina", which sounds very 'live' and offers Sam the opportunity to use some of his crooning skills.

ZP 01

And talking about Mangwana's crooning skills, here is a rather mysterious, undated track which will certainly hit home with all fans of Mangwana. It is a total mystery to me why these songs have never been released in digital form, and especially the B-side, titled "Babla". It is not without a reason that this post bears the title of this song, which I consider to be a highlight in Mangwana's extensive career. The song fits Sam like a glove, and shows him in brilliant form. It is obviously aimed at the east-african audiences with a mix of lingala and swahili in the lyrics. Note also the great accompagnement.

I am sure there must be someone who can tell us more about this song, the musicians, - and perhaps even the circumstances of these recordings?

ELG 06

PS (May 1, 2010): I see I have forgotten to post a link to Flemming Harrev's website ("unofficial homepage"). Essential information about Mangwana.

EDIT October 31, 2011: I've changed the link for the first single.

EDIT November 5, 2011: *the funeral apparently was not of Paul Mwanga, but of another Paul: the musical pioneer from 1940s Brazzaville, Paul Kamba.