Fred Orido
29 September 2007
Nairobi — Two leading Congolese musicians are due in Kenya for a concert next month. "Queen of Mutuashi" Tshala Muana and soukous maestro King Kester Emeneya will perform at the Carnivore in Nairobi on the eve of Moi Day - October 10.
Their promoter Jules Nsana of Nsana Promotions says rhumba fans are in for a great treat.
"We are considering adding two artistes for the concert, but this will depend on how many sponsors we get on board," he adds. However, Nsana acknowledges the fact that it is Tshala Muana who will be the main attraction at the concert as she is known for her sensual dance style which she last showcased in Nairobi in 1995.
PanAfrican singer
The former MP started her career as a dancer, but switched to singing in the early 1970s, After moving to Cote d'Ivoire from her home country, she epitomised the life of a successful panAfrican singer throughout the 1980s with a string of hits. They include Tshikunda, which veers from the turbo-charged production in favour of a more relaxed, semi-acoustic approach.
Coincidentally, the theme of the song is similar to that of the previous one, except that Tshala is less forgiving and hints that the ageing woman is without a man because she has nagged him away.
In East Africa, many fans still adore her for the Karibu Yangu and Dezo Dezo tracks. Other popular songs are Ndeko ya Samwuel, Lwatu and Kokola.
Tshala's voice and tunes are a reflection of the Congolese traditions. She sings panAfrican music with a clear sense of where home is, and has two distinct vocal styles - a sweet, girlish tone and one that is more husky and raw, with quavers and ululations that hint at rural styles. Her melody lines rarely use the scalar motion of most pop around the world; they jump around like the patterns plinked out on a traditional African thumb piano.
Like male soukous singers, Tshala Muana flaunts her sexuality. In Mutuashi, she calculatedly touched her breasts and crotch, and smiled at the audience.
But her music doesn't depend on provocation; its pleasures are in the lilt of the rhythms and the endlessly unfurling melodies and countermelodies.
King Emeneya's name may not ring a bell much with Kenyan fans, but he is considered one of the maestros of Congolese music. Many of his fans actually claim that he influenced the style of musicians like did Tabu Ley and Papa Wemba.
He launched his career with Viva Musica in 1977. However, he eventually broke away with most of the key musicians to form Victoria Eleison.
The band became a darling of the Congolese youth, but he too suffered various desertions, at one time finding himself alternating between the "cutting edge" of experimentation and on the periphery of a dangerous area of bland commercial mediocrity. Emeneya continued to release albums with mixed success. His virtual exile in Europe throughout the 1990s saw his career dance between high and low, with releases of conventionally styled good albums and less successful experiments.
His career took an amazing upturn in 1997 with the release of the album, Succes Fou. Capitalising on this success and on the changing political situation in the DRC, he made a triumphant return to Kinshasa and rebuilt his group with a youthful lineup that could match any rival's.
With release of Mboka Mboka, Emeneya decided to overhaul his band, and this saw the new-look Victoria Eleison Dream Team Dream Band playing in an extended style of hard Congolese rhumba-sebene. With six female and several young male dancers the visual performance surpassed most by Congolese contemporaries. The singer has the ability to reproduce a live atmosphere in the studio by eliminating unnecessary remixing and doctoring.
His tracks, Mboka Mboka, Longue Histoire and Rendre à Cesar, have the natural and vibrant live energy that many clinical studio productions lack. For some listeners, the slightly tacky keyboard embellishment may be a little intrusive, and this is why many call him king.
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