soukous (dr congo)

back in africa and a return visit to dr congo (zaire)
this time for a rhythm known as soukous
which to this untrained ear sounds very familiar
not because of any particular exposure or knowledge of soukous
but more so because it sounds similar to other african styles
where the guitar rings out a very repetitive riff
and the bass and percussion also have a strong beat
inspiring some serious hip movement
here is songlines magazine description of soukous

in the west it is still referred to as soukous music
but it's really just modern congolese music
a hybrid of classic old congo rumba with sumptuous vocal harmonies
and multiple interwoven guitars
and the faster sebene section of the song
where the guitars let rip underneath vocal animations
that encourage the sexy swivel-hipped movements of the dancers

papa wemba seems to be a major contributor to this style
but on doing a bit of research it turns out he has another career
was convicted of trafficking illegal (women) immigrants into france
so not someone i particularly want to pay much attention to
digging further revealed another musician named kanda bongo man
which reminded me of his name being on the program at womadelaide
for some reason i.e. clash of interests i did not see him perform
but found the following video of his 2006 performance at womadelaide
seems to have been a mid or late afternoon show on the main stage
so apart from providing a good reference point for soukous
this one shows off well the stage and crowd at the festival
(42 of 50)