Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Theo Blaise (Re-Up)


A great LP found at Brick Lane flea market back in the 80's. This record on the TBK label was released in 1982. Theo recorded in Paris but has since given up performing to study music I am reliably informed. No idea who the fabulous guitarist playing here is.

Wikipedia says -

"Soukous (also known as Lingala or Congo, and previously as African rumba) is a musical genre that originated in the two neighbouring countries of Belgian Congo and French Congo during the 1930s and early 1940s, and which has gained popularity throughout Africa. "Soukous" (said to be a derivative of the French word secouer, to shake[1]) was originally the name of a dance popular in the Congos in the late 1960s, and danced to an African version of rumba. Although the genre was initially known as rumba (sometimes termed specifically as African rumba), the term "soukous" has come to refer to African rumba and its subsequent developments.

Soukous is called Congo music in West Africa, and Lingala in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania - referring to the Lingala language of the region from where it originated. In the 1980s and early 1990s, a fast-paced style of soukous known as kwassa kwassa – named after a popular dance, was popular. A style called ndombolo, also named after a dance, is currently popular."

More theo Blaise at SoMEtHIng FoR tHE WeeKEnd.

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