Franco, Tabu Ley, Makeba, Abeti… they all were recorded during these three crazy nights that announced the famous Ali vs Foreman boxing fight. Back to Kinshasa, Zaire, 1974.
In the second and final part of our introduction to Moorish music, PAM takes a look at how the Moorish sound evolved from the days of colonization.
Moorish music stands at the crossroads of multiple influences – Sub-Saharan, North African, Middle Eastern and European. It’s a highly sophisticated sound that prides itself in being wholly unique and original.
Episode 3: BYG Records, an adventurous label, released a series of albums in the autumn of 1969 which became legendary when they invited the cream of American free jazz back from the Pan-African Festival in […]
1960-2020. Sixty years on from their hard-fought independence, the Congolese – much like other citizens of respective African countries – were revisiting their history. Amongst them were the artists, who chose to explore their reflection through music. Let’s take a closer look at what the songs of Jupiter and Baloji’s have to teach us today.
On June 30th, 1960, the entire population of the Congo, and in particular its capital Lépoldville, danced “the independence cha-cha”. But menacing clouds would soon darken the Congolese skies. Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba would come to pay the price for his actions. His name remains forged in people’s memories, and in the songs that tell his tragic story.
In our last episode, PAM visited a post-war Congo-Leopoldville (currently DRC), at a time when new sounds and ideas began to form. These would, in time, lead the country to independence, on June 30th, 1960. Naturally, music played a key role.
Running through June 30, PAM invites you to discover a new episode each weekly in our series dedicated to the Independence of present day DRC and the musical power of Rumba.
In the first episode of our series dedicated to the soundtrack of independence from Congo (DRC), PAM reflects on the influence of Afro-Cuban music that the first great Congolese orchestras began to imitate, before they broke free to create their own sound: “Congolese rumba”.
PAM is pleased to present a new episode from the Paris c’est L’Afrique series (dir. Philippe Conrath, 1989) on our YouTube channel. Youssou N’Dour, Xalam, Touré Kunda, Doudou N’Diaye Rose, Omar Pène… from Dakar to Paris, they […]
PAM gets you to discover a new excerpt from the documentary film series Paris c’est l’Afrique that French journalist Philippe Conrath directed in… 1989! Manu introduced his compatriots Les Têtes Brûlées. Soon on PAM, the […]