Congo Swing

Back online and back in Mwanza. Sorry-o for the long wait. Been to Europe for work and vacation. When we returned, the landline phone worked but we mysteriously got a different telephone number (and the ADSL account, tied to our real number, of course did't work). After multiple visits, we finally got our old number back and figured out the ADSL connection again. Then blogger acted up: when I signed in, I got access to other people's blogs (mostly blogs with a link to Tanzania: someone climbing Kilimanjaro, a blog on TZ media, and the family photos of a Tanzanian Indian).

Today, all seems to be working well (almost: wanted to download Bobongo Stars from CombandRazor but failed after repeated attempts). I did manage to easily upload this 45 I found in Antwerp, with one my favorite Congolese bands, Rock-A-Mambo. A long while back, I did a guest post for Matt's Bennloxo.com featuring some other Rock-A-Mambo tracks.

I love these tracks, dating back to the 1950s. Bakoule with Kabasele and Rossignol on vocals swings. It also has me searching: this was covered in the late 1980s or 1990s by, I think, Pepe Kalle. I have that song, on cassette in one of several boxes filled with tapes, but haven't found it yet. I can hear the song in my head. If anyone hears Bakoule and knows the newer version, let me know.

I'll leave you with all tracks: Brigitte, another Rock-A-Mambo track, Kumaye and Senhorita, two Negro Band cha-cha-cha tunes.