Search - Franco & Ok Jazz :: Originalite: First Recordings 1956-1957

Wow ! ! !

Ed Gibbon www.congocookbook.com | 11/18/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Franco and the OK Jazz are an institution in Central African popular dance music. Between the 1960s and 1990s they had hit after hit (reportedly they recorded over 100 albums!). They performed in concerts and clubs all over the world. I was fortunate to see them in 1990, in the Vis-a-Vis club in the Matonge nightclub district in Kinshasa (in Zaire/Congo, home to the OK Jazz); to keep it short: that night is one of the most memorable musical experiences of my life (though by that time lead singer Franco had died and the band broke up a few years later). Many OK Jazz (sometimes called the TPOK Jazz) albums are available on CD, and every "world music" enthusiast should have at least a half dozen. What makes this CD special is its early vintage. These tracks were recorded in the late 1950s and are an extremely interesting foreshadowing of what was to come. It's fascinating to hear African pop music develop before your ears, as the OK Jazz mix African and Latin American rythms and styles. (All the more interesting because Latin American music is itself partly derived from African sources. Latin American records, brough by Europeans and Americans, were very popular in Africa in the middle decades of the 20th century.)I was amazed to find that this music is available on CD. These are important recordings, documenting a seminal period in the development of modern African popular music. If you want to learn the story of modern African popular music, this is a great place to start. (One other CD of Congolese popular music of this era is "Ngoma: the early years, 1948-1960", which features recordings of various musicians made for the Ngoma record company of "Leopoldville, Belgian Congo".)"

You enter OK. You leave KO (Knocked Out)

Lynn D. Larrow | Lafayette, CA USA | 05/06/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album covers some of the original recordings of Franco and OK Jazz 1956-57. The selections have been re-mastered from the old 78 records and really sound good considering (no crackles or hums). For anyone interested in the history of African Rumba music or the modern Congolese Soukous, this is a must have CD. Franco's guitar playing on this album hints at what will become the standard sound for the African Rumba and Soukous. On Entre OK, On sort KO, (You enter OK and leave Knocked Out) is the groups signature song. I especially like the songs Merenque and Ah Bolingo Pasi. These cuts are all very upbeat and make a great backdrop for just about any kind of activity. Nice music to cook by :).I wish more of Franco's CDs would be re-released in the USA. I'm having a hard time finding any at all. :/"