Search - Franco :: African Classics

A great complement to Francophonic

Saint Kole | Mt V, NY | 01/29/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you already own both volumes of Francophonic and are looking for a little more of Franco's work, don't hesitate to buy this album. Very few of the songs appear on either of the Francophonic volumes and the material here is top-notch. In fact, Tres Impoli and the lead-off track Matata Mwasi Na Maboli Esilaka Te are must-have Franco tracks. A different version of Mario is the only overlap with Francophonic Volume 2. There are about five songs which appear on Volume 1 (Rumba OK, Azda, Alimatou, Quatre Boutons, and ...). Sam Mangwana appears on six tracks: the aforementioned Matata Mwasi Na Maboli Esilaka Te, Nabala Ata Mwba, Alimatou, and Ou Est Le Serieux from the 70's, Tres Impoli and Toujours OK from the 80's. I've seen complaints about the lack of a chronological order here. Actually the second disc is more or less chronological with out being a slave to the timeline. It's the first disc which is not chronological and except for the jumps from the 80's back to the 50's, the order works well enough.

The booklet is okay but pales in comparison to the Francophonic booklets which is understandable. Additionally there are errors in the song credits including wrong dates (Tres Impoli 1974??) and a wrong album. However, there is nothing wrong with the music on the discs themselves. Although, I'm convinced that you could reach in the OK Jazz "hat" and make a great CD with any of the songs that you pull out."