Opening at the Village East Cinema in New York City on June 6th, Jacques
Sarasin’s superlative documentary “On the Rumba River” can be described
as the Congolese counterpart of “Buena Vista Social Club”.
It is a tribute to “Papa” Wendo Kolosoy, who was the first superstar of
Congolese music. Born in 1925, he started off in life as a riverboat
engine mechanic and a sometime professional boxer. His first album was
made in 1948 but like many citizens living under Mobotu’s dictatorship
fell on hard times. He would up as a street beggar eventually but was
rediscovered in 1997 and has since made a comeback, just like the Cuban
musicians in “Buena Vista Social Club”.
A word or two about Congolese music would be in order. The “Rumba River”
is actually a reference to the Congo River, where Papa Wendo plied his
trade as a young man but Rumba is, as the name applies, the same dance
music made popular by Afro-Cuban musicians such as Celia Cruz and Beny Moré.
full: http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2008/05/23/on-the-rumba-river/
_______________________________________________
pen-l mailing list
[email protected]
https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
