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The early 80’s were a pinnacle of creativity in East African
music. They saw the consolidation of the Zairean (Congolese) rumba
in a profusion of orchestras whose high musical standards have
rarely been equalled since. A rival and equally important scene
of distinctive sounding rumba had emerged in neighbouring Tanzania
and Kenya with the leading exponents being Orchestra Super Mazembe,
Super Matamila and Orchestra Makassy which was based in Dar Es
Salaam. Originally formed in 1975 in Kampala from Ugandan and
Zairean musicians by lead vocalist Mzee Makassy, Orchestra Makassy
was forced into exile by the megalomaniacal dictator Idi Amin,
whose cruel regime destroyed the nascent music scene there.
Legends is the long overdue reissue of the orchestra’s classic
1982 Agwaya session with two bonus tracks added. Unlike some of
the music from the time, it is beautifully recorded. You can hear
all the individual instruments and voices as clear as a bell.
Simply one of the greatest sets of African rumba, this recording
positively shimmers with glorious vocal harmonies, beautiful melodies,
hypnotically swinging percussion, exciting brass arrangements
and solos, all topped off with the liquid, soulful guitar runs
of the masterly Mose Se Fan Fan. His consistently inventive flights
gently propel each number into the stratosphere with an inevitability
that still yields surprise after many auditions. Most of the songs
are sung in Swahili with a couple in Shona and Lingala.
One of the orchestra’s biggest hits Mambo Bado, a jumpy
dance number, sets the CD in motion with a thumpy beat, exciting
brass and vocal call and response and a series of exciting trumpet
bursts. From there the music seems to hit a dizzyingly elevated
musical plateau. Song after song regales the listener with such
a kaleidoscope of inner conversations yet the music is so beautifully
relaxed, direct and flowing that it’s pointless citing one
over the other. I will add, though it’s not stated in the
liner notes, that the majestic voice that rings forth on the stunning
closer Mume Wangu, an anti-smoking song, is none other than Remmy
Ongala. What an apt title, Legends Of East Africa! Music doesn’t
get any better than this.
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