In the 1950s, a wildfire of roots pride, begun in America's fledgling Civil Rights movement, blazed across continents. The music that had originally come to the Americas from Africa returned home by way of the Caribbean, covered in tattoos that vividly... [more]

In the 1950s, a wildfire of roots pride, begun in America's fledgling Civil Rights movement, blazed across continents. The music that had originally come to the Americas from Africa returned home by way of the Caribbean, covered in tattoos that vividly depicted the struggles and victories of its cultural odyssey. Sometimes called Congo Music, Musique Zairose, or soukous in its various forms, Zaire Rumba spread the Cuban dance rage that flared through Africa -- and sparked a network of regional musical fires along the way. Zaire's capital city, Kinshasa, provided the genre's red-hot core. Home to more than 350 orchestras, including African Jazz and Orchestre Empre des Bakuba, Kinshasa produced classic African guitar music fused with Latin-influenced percussion. The electric guitar -- which was just overtaking the saxophone as the lion of popular music in the West -- showed off the remarkable adaptability that amplified African Jazz's roar. When it reached Africa, a new dimension was added to the lead and rhythm guitar relationship: the indigenous technique of interlocking musical patterns. It was all part of the re-Africanization that reflected the postwar urban experience. Dance was, as always, the heart and hearth of the music, as a listen to Tabu Ley Rochereau's calypso-influenced rumba makes clear. In contrast, the traditional vocal roots of Papa Wemba, which lit the flame of 1970s Zaiko Langa Langa, demonstrate admittedly American R&B; colorings. [show less]