The Case of the Congolese Continuum

This week we are back in one of my favorite musical countries: The Congo.

Many slaves brought to the Americas came from the area that is today known as The Congo. They brought with them musical traditions, especially drumming, that became essential ingredients for the music made in places like Cuba and Brazil. When this new world music came back to The Congo in the Twentieth Century, the origins of the music were evident; there was terrific synergy between the new music of the Americas and the ancient musical traditions that were still being played for rites and ceremonies in The Congo. In the 1940s and 50s, this synergy gave birth to a new musical form: the Congolese Rumba.

As I have said before on the show, I feel this is the first wholly original modern musical form to emerge from sub-Saharan Africa in the Twentieth Century. This music became popular throughout much of the continent, and was a great source of pride for many Africans. The popularity of the Congolese Rumba also created a professional class of musicians in this area at a time when most places in Africa could not economically support full-time musicians. In the 1960s and 70s many African countries were just beginning to create music scenes comparable to The Congo of the 1950s. It was at this time that the master musicians of The Congo changed course, creating the new musical style of Soukouss. This also became a huge success across the African continent.

The first part of my show today will trace this development, playing examples of early Congolese Rumba as well as Soukouss. But I am also featuring tracks today from current Congolese artist Baloji. This is an LP I recently purchased at a record store here in Portland, and I am finding it to be my favorite album of modern/popular African music created in the past several years.