One comfort in an otherwise unsettling year
has been my own luck in finding some great second-hand records – 78rpm, 45rpm
and LPs. I had the good fortune of visiting Nairobi three times this year, and
meeting a long-time Congo-Kenya Rhumba collector who no longer wanted to keep his
vinyl collection, he wanted this music in digital format. So, come the summer
holiday break I will be spending some time keeping my promise to him. Before I share with you my start on that project, I must mention two great compilations
of Kenyan music that have this year been released world-wide. The sound reproduction on both
compilations is really excellent. My personal favourite is “Urgent Jumping: East
African Musiki Wa Dansi Classics” which features 27 tracks spanning close on
two and a half hours of music from Kenyan, Tanzanian and Congolese bands
that plied their trade across the region over the period 1972 - 1982.
“Kenya Special Volume 2” follows the
successful release by Soundway Records of volume one in 2013. This compilation
offers 20 tracks (90 minutes) sampling a wider variety of Kenyan music in the
1970s and 1980s.
Soundway reckon that the resurgence of
interest in African music from the 1960s to the 1980s is boosted by a curious
new generation of music lovers: “The approach to musical rediscovery that is
behind Kenya Special has its origins in a youthful movement of
vinyl collecting (and to some extent club culture), which has, in the past
decade and a half, carved out its own niche alongside the established music
industry.”
“Despite the renewed interest in music from Kenya’s past, finding these tracks and their rights holders hasn’t become any easier. Only a handful of music archives around the world harbour collections of Kenyan music, and just a few private collectors in Kenya and abroad have been sharing catalogue info online or privately. One of the problems with East African music of this era is that much of it was originally released only on 45 rpm, seven-inch vinyl singles, many of which were only ever produced in tiny runs of a few hundred. 45s with their thin, paper sleeves do not age as well as LPs and are often far more susceptible to the elements. The compilers of Kenya Special 2 have gone to great lengths to disclose a small part of what is slowly being accepted as an essential element of East Africa’s cultural heritage: the history of recorded popular music.”
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20161117234050im_/https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T8jHdXWkLWE/WCw3Uaa_nYI/AAAAAAAACQY/lSNJY0cs7lIONOP5-gs-UoYCJrDjGwdoACLcB/s200/lena.jpg)
1. Orch Bana Likasi: Lena Pts 1 & 2 (Kanema)
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20161117234050im_/https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1yd1NZWpH_s/WCw23LZPJVI/AAAAAAAACQU/_9grt3eRwsEL_kfYecN0niuqJvthw8wDACLcB/s200/sikia.jpg)
2. Orch. Les Jaca: Sikia Pts 1 & 2 (Ligbutu)
This from the Muzikifan website: “Les Jaca was created by Lovy (Longomba) when
he decided to leave Super Mazembe in 1981. He went into the studio with Siama,
Tabu Frantal, Mandefu, Roy Mosanda and other friends, but the attempt bore no
fruit, so Lovy remained with Super Mazembe.”
3. L'Orch Baba National: Vituko Vya Mama
Mkwe Pts 1 & 2 (Baba Gaston)
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20161117234050im_/https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mhIbnU_REw8/WCw2tM9yj0I/AAAAAAAACQQ/Nh-KnYPcah0Feby9hm_2PVpBgFNpg_aYACLcB/s200/Vituko.jpg)
4. Orch Les Wanyika: Nisaidie Baba Pts 1
& 2 (D.J. Ngereza) 1980.
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20161117234050im_/https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iEnpl567Nt0/WCw2kba2YzI/AAAAAAAACQM/Qbx0uL6WPtET6FEusVFd66lIVki-rIAlACLcB/s200/nisaidie.jpg)
5. Les Volcano: Hakuna Dawa Ya Mapenzi Pts
1 & 2 (Charles Ray Kasembe)
6. Orch Les Volcano: Tumonye Mwanangu Pts 1
& 2 (Charles Ray Kasembe)
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20161117234050im_/https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j-N-d2pGpGk/WCw18SVBq0I/AAAAAAAACP4/HZDa2jlDqecCgqAX-gO9F_4AebU8ax0OQCLcB/s200/akitapo.jpg)
I don't think Les Volcano was a group until after the death of Mbaraka Mwinshehe. I think Mbaraka started Super Volcano after leaving Morogoro Jazz (in about 1974?). After Mbaraka died, Ray Charles Kasembe tried to keep a subset of Super Volcano members together under the name Les Volcanos. I don't think this group existed prior to Mbaraka's death (I could be mistaken). I never had the opportunity to see Super Volcano, though I went to the Kenya coast try to find them in 1975 (just missed them)." Thanks Doug.
7. Orch. Super Bwambe: Atikapo Pts 1 &
2
8. Orchestre Matonge: Pesa Moselebende Pts
1 & 2 (Jean-Claude K)
Named after the musical heart of Congo
Kinshasa, this was another of the bands that sold really well in Nairobi. I
cannot find much info on this band, though Tim Clifford on the ever useful
Kentanza Vinyl site says that the Kamanyola label is named “after an area in
eastern DRC Congo close to the Rwandan border. The name featured heavily in
Mobutu’s Zaire as in 1964 it was where the young army officer led troops in the
capture of a rebel-held bridge. When he rose to power, he named the
presidential yacht, an army division and Kinshasa’s sports stadium (now the
Stade des Martyrs) after this victory. There is still a Boulevard Kamanyola in
Lubumbashi. Appropriately enough, one of the roads leading off it is the Avenue
des Chutes - Falls or Collapses Avenue.”
Download link here