{"id":114480,"date":"2022-11-03T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-03T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/?p=114480"},"modified":"2022-10-26T17:40:59","modified_gmt":"2022-10-26T15:40:59","slug":"balka-sound-album","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/balka-sound-album\/","title":{"rendered":"Strut Records dusts off Congolese Balka Sound"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>A time capsule of 1980\u2019s Congo, the Balka Sound compilation, available November 11th, gathers the best from the eponymous genre and group, led by grand ngomfi master Nbiki \u201cLusialala\u201d Albert.<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Legend says that Nbiki Albert first brushed the five cords of a ngomfi <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cesbc.org\/culture_et_arts\/litterature\/danielmatokot\/loussialala.htm\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.cesbc.org\/culture_et_arts\/litterature\/danielmatokot\/loussialala.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">at the age of six<\/a>, and that same day, he composed the successful \u201c<em>Kidilu<\/em>\u201d &#8211; the seventh track on the <em>Balka Sound <\/em>record. Armed with his instrument, the child prodigy from Myamba Mouyoundzi exhilarated the crowds throughout the country. Every performance made his audience dance so much that clouds of sand and dust would fill the place. Nicknamed \u201cDe La Poussi\u00e8re\u201d (understood as \u201cwho creates dust\u201d), Nbiki Albert then formed Balka Sound. The group\u2019s universe was unique: traditional Congolese Balka music blended with Ngoula Pierre Dana\u2019s bass, Poussou Rene\u2019s guitar, and Vieux Paul\u2019s saxophone.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Together, the musicians produced three albums. <em>Le 1er son du Balka, Lusialala et ses amis<\/em>, recorded in a unique session in 1979. Then <em>Tu Kine Balka<\/em>, composed in Kinshasa in 1982. Lastly, the groovy <em>Afro Musik Creation<\/em> in 1983. Congo (and the world) moved to the sound of Balka all through the 1980s. But in 1993, the civil war between Lissouba, Sassou-Nguesso, and Kol\u00e9las partisans slowly ended the Balka Sound adventure. Eventually, Denis Sassou-Nguesso returned to Congo in June 1997, new fighting erupted, and their recording studio was looted, provoking the band\u2019s separation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Balka Sound - Ah Lusialala\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xCXHjQoVobg?feature=oembed&#038;autoplay=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption>Balka Sound &#8211; Ah Lusialala<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:15px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Twenty-five years later, Strut Records and The Carvery Studios compile and remaster Balka Sound\u2019s work, giving the audience a chance to rediscover this joyous orchestra. This album gathers 15 tunes, including the classic \u201c<em>Ah Lusialala<\/em>\u201d. Using a vibrant tempo, and storytelling like the Ivorian anthem \u201c<em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=XCXqRDb0EDM\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=XCXqRDb0EDM\" target=\"_blank\">1er Gaou<\/a><\/em>\u201d, it humorously tells the story of a distressed man, who fell for a greedy woman. This song earned Nbiki Albert his moniker \u201cLusialala\u201d. Other titles showcase Balka\u2019s richness like \u201c<em>Wa Yiwou<\/em>\u201d, a spiritual chant in the Teke language. \u201c<em>Nia Nia<\/em>\u201d, sang in Beembe, is an homage to mothers and grandmothers infused with rumba influences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Balka Sound compilation participates in the preservation of Congo\u2019s musical heritage. Founding member Henri Nsika Nkaya envisions it as \u201c<em>an update, a unification, and an internationalization of Congolese cultures.<\/em>\u201d And to pass this almost forgotten legacy on to future generations, the artist\u2019s daughter Makila Nsika Nkaya curated the project. With this album, Balka music is finally immortalized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/strut.bandcamp.com\/album\/balka-sound\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/strut.bandcamp.com\/album\/balka-sound\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Balka Sound<\/a><\/em> will be available November 11th. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1010\" height=\"1010\" src=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Balka-Sound-1010x1010.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-114484\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Balka-Sound-1010x1010.jpg 1010w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Balka-Sound-759x759.jpg 759w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Balka-Sound-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Balka-Sound-661x661.jpg 661w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Balka-Sound-465x465.jpg 465w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Balka-Sound-375x375.jpg 375w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Balka-Sound-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Balka-Sound-85x85.jpg 85w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Balka-Sound-73x73.jpg 73w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Balka-Sound.jpg 1300w\" sizes=\"(min-width:1010px) 759px,100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A time capsule of 1980\u2019s Congo, the Balka Sound compilation, available November 11th, gathers the best from the eponymous genre and group, led by grand ngomfi master Nbiki \u201cLusialala\u201d Albert. Legend says that Nbiki Albert [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":114483,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3944],"tags":[4739,30275],"location":[7932],"yst_prominent_words":[8539,8414,8447,8402,13732,10757,8543],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114480"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114480"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=114480"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=114480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}