Mariama

Music label Ngoma was started in 1948 in Léopoldville (now known as Kinshasa), by Greek businessman Nicolas Jéronimidis. Orchestre Beguen Band is one of the Ngoma label’s house bands. The band features singers such as Léon Bukassa, Frank Lassan and Tchadé, whose realy name is Floriant Tuka.

The song “Kobeta Mwasi Te” (= “Don’t hit a woman”), with singers Léon Bukassa and Remy, is in the Brasilian rhythm Baïo. These are the lyrics:

Aha Sidonie, you really are my wife – even if I hit you, you really are my wife – realize you’ve done something wrong – Ramon, marry me – darling, I’m really fed up with you – I think we’re a nice couple – Ramon, yesterday you hit me – darling, today it’s your turn to take me to the hospital – my suffering has become yours – darling, I’m the loser in this story, why did you hit me?

Singer, guitarist and double bass player Frank Lassan was born in 1936 in Stanleyville, now  Kisangani, as Jean-Marie Asumani. Because of the policy of “Authenticité”, in 1967, where Mobutu ordered for all Western names to be changed to ‘authentic’ Zairian names, Frank Lassan first changed his name to Fariala wa Nyembo and later to Fariala Yembo wa Assani.

From 1954 he performed with the Rumbanella Band, later with the Beguen Band and finally, he continued with his own accompanying band, releasing a number of albums, among which the LP “Sarakoule”.

In his song “Omba Likita”, a cha-cha-cha sung in Kiswahili, “Omba” is the name of the firstborn twin.

Léon Bukassa also started his own band: Jazz Mango. And he also accompanies the multi-instrumentalist Albino Kalombo as a singer. The accompanying orchestra is called Groupe Rythmique Ngoma, another house band of the Ngoma label.

In the Lingala song “Bukasa Aleli” (“Bukasa is crying”), it is about Margarita, his great love who can’t even send him a letter: Please, talk to me, Léon is crying, Léon is mourning.

The Kiswahili song “Bertha Roho Mbaya”, by Albino Kalombo and Léon Bukasa, is also about a broken heart:

Bertha, where are you? – You remain silent, since you left, not even a letter – Bertha – not even greetings – you have forgotten me, darling.

Singer Martha Badibala, from Northeast Congo, sings with Caroline Mpia, accompanied by Groupe Rythmique Ngoma.

The lyrics of the song “Keba Malamu Na Mobali Wa Ngai” (= “Stay away from my man!”) are: I despise shame – I thought you were a friend – only to realize that you are a double-edged sword – stay away from my man.

In the song “Ba Mbanda Basuani” (“Rivals are fighting”), a man warns not to take another woman, and if you don’t take this seriously, then the problem will be resolved in public: “The rivals are wrestling in the street.”

The ballad “Martha Ake Kotoka Mai” is sung by Martha Badibala, along with singer and guitarist Wendo Kolosoy. The second guitarist here is Henri Bowane, who, like Wendo Kolosoy, was affiliated with the Ngoma label.

“Rumba Ya Matoko Na Bandumba” is sung in Kikongo by Maître “Colon Gentil” Samuel Nzungu.

The merengue “Sebele” by Khim Valentino and the Dynamic Jazz orchestra is sung in Lari, the language of a tribe living around Brazzaville…

Camille Feruzi was born in 1912 in Stanleyville. His father played the accordion. When his father was at work, he secretly practiced on his accordion. He was one of the first Congolese artists to record music. Because Franco remembered that his own father loved the accordion, he asked him in 1970 to record some old tunes. The lyrics of “Josephine” by Camille Feruzi and Mysterious Jazz go: “Josephine, I cry for you; I spend the nights in my father’s house; waiting for you; when will you come?”

Special thanks to Harm van der Wal and Barbera Schuil for making their African music available.

Playlist:

1. Tchadé & Jazz Beguen: Naboyi, auteur: Tchadé, 45 RPM, 1963, Ngoma J DN 72 / CD The Soul Of Congo: Treasures Of The Ngoma Label, 2023, Planet Ilunga PI 10 CD, 2’37
2. Beguen Band: Penepene, auteur: Léon Bukasa, Ngoma 1886 / CD The Soul Of Congo: Treasures Of The Ngoma Label, 2023, Planet Ilunga PI 10 CD, 3’00
3. Beguen Band: Kobeta Mwasi Te, auteur: Léon Bukasa, 78 RPM, 1958, Ngoma 1887 / CD The Soul Of Congo: Treasures Of The Ngoma Label, 2023, Planet Ilunga PI 10 CD, 2’53
4. Orchestre Beguen Band: Député Taty Samuel, auteur: Bemi, RPM 45, Pathé PF 11554, 3’16
5. Franck Lassan & Rumbanella Band: Rumbanella Bande, auteur: Franc Lassan, 45 RPM, Ngoma 1691, Ngoma N°1022 / CD The Soul Of Congo: Treasures Of The Ngoma Label, 2023, Planet Ilunga PI 10 CD, 3’06
6. Franc Lassan & Beguen Band: Omba Likita, auteur: Franc Lassan, 45 RPM, Ngoma 1909, Ngoma N°1022 / CD The Soul Of Congo: Treasures Of The Ngoma Label, 2023, Planet Ilunga PI 10 CD, 3’05
7. Frank Lassan: Mama Tumba, auteur: Frank Lassan, LP Sarakoule, CID (2) CID 485, 5’47
8. Rumbanella Band: Clara Badimuene, auteur: Léon Bukasa, CD The Kinshasa-Abidjan Sessions – The Very Best Of Congolese Rumba, 2003, Marabi Productions 46823-2, 4’48
9. Léon Bukasa & Jazz Mango: Bukasa Aleli, auteur: Léon Bukasa, EP, 1961, Ngoma 2160, Ngoma N°25 / CD The Soul Of Congo: Treasures Of The Ngoma Label, 2023, Planet Ilunga PI 10 CD, 3’07
10. Albino Kalombo & Léon Bukasa: Bertha Roho Mbaya, Ngoma 1803, CD The Soul Of Congo: Treasures Of The Ngoma Label, 2023, Planet Ilunga PI 10 CD, 3’07
11. Martha Badibala & Caroline Mpia: Keba Malamu Na Mobali Wa Ngai, auteur: Martha Badibala & Caroline Mpia, Ngoma 1606, CD The Soul Of Congo: Treasures Of The Ngoma Label, 2023, Planet Ilunga PI 10 CD, 3’05
12. Martha Badibala & Caroline Mpia: Ba Mbanda Basuani, auteur: Martha Badibala & Caroline Mpia, Ngoma 1606, CD The Soul Of Congo: Treasures Of The Ngoma Label, 2023, Planet Ilunga PI 10 CD, 3’08
13. Martha Badibala & Wendo Kolosoy: Martha Ake Kotoka Mai, auteur: Martha Badibala & Wendo, Ngoma 444, CD The Soul Of Congo: Treasures Of The Ngoma Label, 2023, Planet Ilunga PI 10 CD, 3’14
14. Maître “Colon Gentil” Samuel Nzungu & Tip Top Jazz: Rumba Ya Matoko Na Bandumba, auteur: Maître “Colon Gentil”, 78 RPM, 1959, Ngoma 1920, Ngoma 1920 / CD The Soul Of Congo: Treasures Of The Ngoma Label, 2023, Planet Ilunga PI 10 CD, 2’59
15. Khim Valentino & Dynamic Jazz: Sebele, Ngoma 2017, CD The Soul Of Congo: Treasures Of The Ngoma Label, 2023, Planet Ilunga PI 10 CD, 2’58
16. Camille Feruzi & Mysterious Jazz: Josephine, auteur: Camille Feruzi, Ngoma 1923, CD The Soul Of Congo: Treasures Of The Ngoma Label, 2023, Planet Ilunga PI 10 CD, 2’54
17. Rumbanella Band: Kellya, CD The Kinshasa-Abidjan Sessions – The Very Best Of Congolese Rumba, 2003, Marabi Productions 46823-2, 5’40