Mazembe Mazembe @ 45rpm Vol 1

Orchestra Super Mazembe may be one of the most influential bands in African music. They were one of the first exponents of the Latin-influenced Congolese soukous to up sticks and move to Kenya, where their music evolved into what is now known as benga. This in turn crossed over to Zimbabwe, transforming into sungura and jit music. Despite this, you’d be hard pressed to find Orchestra Super Mazembe in a record shop outside of the African continent.

Mazembe @ 45rpm Vol 1 remedies that by presenting Mazembe’s late 70s songs taken from 45rpm releases – the most common way of disseminating music at the time. No track here is shorter than six minutes long, with each one seamlessly segueing both the A and B sides of each single. They reveal a wide range of moods, from the danciest grooves of ‘Okova’ to the more relaxing ‘Izabela’. Nonetheless, all the tracks have the common soukous spices – high-pitched guitar melodies, effortlessly tight harmonies and an overall sunniness of spirit. Strangely the compilation neglects what was perhaps the band’s biggest hit in Kenya, 1977’s ‘Kasongo’, but the tracks that are featured are solid gold. The CD is accompanied by a detailed 15-page booklet, with band biography and song explanations created with help from another soukous legend, Samba Mapangala, who actually can be heard taking vocal duties on the track ‘Mwana Mazembe’. Although the sound reproduction can be a bit scratchy, this can be forgiven in lieu of the great music contained within. Bring on Volume 2 !