LES ON DIT / FRANCO,BANIEL,NANA & OK JAZZ (CHOC CHOC 009,1988)

There is some controversy at the moment about the blog Congo Na Biso because they do not credit other bloggers when they use their uploads.

Please be assured we always credit other blogs when we use their links to add to the OK Jazz legacy. We continue today with this link from Global Groovers, a beautiful record from 1988 featuring the gorgeous vocals of Baniel and Nana. Female singers are rare on OK Jazz releases, so this is a real gem. Enjoy!

LES ON DIT / FRANCO,BANIEL,NANA & OK JAZZ (CHOC CHOC 009,1988)
 

Side A 

LES ON DIT  (Franco)                                                            
C'EST LA VIE D'UNE FEMME CELIBETAIRE (Franco)                                   

Side B 

JE VIS AVEC LE PDG (Simaro)                                                      
FLORA UNE FEMME DIFICILE (Franco)              

http://globalgroovers.blogspot.com/2011/03/le-grand-maitre-franco-et-le-tpok-jazz.html

Still Alive (1990) Koch International CD 63

This album is like a Holy Grail for us. Even though it was released on CD in 1990 it is very hard to find and out of print. We finally sourced a copy and are so happy to share it with you. It is a great real live performance by Franco and TPOK Jazz at the African Festival in Utrecht from 1988, the year before the Grand Maitre sadly left us.

There is such great energy on this record and a huge line-up of musicians. Franco brought 28 members of OK Jazz to Utrecht for this concert at his own expense as a favour to former OK Jazz member Joseph Ngonga who was an organiser of it.

1 Likambo (Franco)
2 Bolingo ya Ngai No Tata (Josky)
3 Pesa Ngai Position Na Ya (Madilu System)
4 Tres Fache (Franco)
5 Mario (Franco)
6 Mono Munutu Nieki Amo Ta Ndila (Franco)
7 Etumba (Franco)
8 Mawe (Ndombe Opetum)
9 Tokoma ba Camarades Pamba (Franco)

http://www.4shared.com/file/DUqNvGW9/Still_Alive.html

FNMA Congo/Naboyi Libala Na Noko PF 11 549

This is a rare 45" of two Franco compositions. FNMA Congo was not released on any other LP or CD as far as we can tell. Naboyi Libala Na Noko was released on the Sonodisc CD 36554, 'Franco, Vicky et L'OK Jazz 1966/1967' in 1996.

The single is credited to Orchestre O.K. Jazz. 

There is no date on the label,we can presume 

it was released in 1966 or 1967.

Side A

F.N.M.A. Congo (Franco)

Side B

Naboyi Libala Na Noko (Franco)

http://www.4shared.com/file/aAgASJXZ/FNMA_Congo.html

Lela Ngai Na Mosika (1985)

This is a 12 inch single from 1985. It is credited to Momy et le Tout Puissant O.K.Jazz, presumably because Momy (Momene Mo Mikengo) composed the tracks.

There are just two tracks. One on each side.

The first track 'Lela Ngai Na Mosika' appears to be a re-recording of a hit from Josky and Ntesa Dalienst's album 'Alerte'.

The second track is called 'Likingo Li Mboka'.

The single was released via the African Record Center/Safari Music inprint with a catalogue of Tchika 010/85.

We don't know if Franco is on this rare record, but it is very good nonetheless. There's a great sebene in Lela Ngai Na Mosika. Vocals on both tracks are provided by Josky, Ntesa, Madilu and Kiwakana.

Side A

Lela Ngai Na Mosika (Momy)

Side B

Likingo Li Mboka (Momy)

http://www.4shared.com/file/0-jbNw6K/Lela_Ngai.html

Two 45's from the 1970's

We have been busy collecting some great rarities to post on the blog. Some of these were acquired with the help of some generous doners. May we thank you sincerely for helping to make these recordings available to everyone. Your continued support is appreciated.

Our first two posts of our new acquisitions are two 45's from the 1970's.

The first is 'Boni Nkaka' a Youlou Mabiala composition from 1977 released as a stand alone single labelled Edition Populaires 061 (African 91.595). The song was previously released on the now deleted Sonodisc CD 36571 which we never got a copy of. This is the original vinyl release in two parts.

http://www.4shared.com/file/Unz22FQ4/Boni_Nkaka.html


The second track is 'Zenaba' a compositon by Franco from 1973 released as Edition Populaires 146. This seems to be two different versions of the same song rather than one long song split over two sides. There is slight warping on our copy of this single which causes the start of part 2 to sound a bit strange. A live version of this song was released on CD by Sonodisc CDS 6952. Both studio versions seem to have only been released on vinyl so this is a rarity and a real classic too.

http://www.4shared.com/file/Y8fEcBKR/Zenaba.html

Two Rare 45's

It has been some time since we posted something so here are two 45's we aquired recently with the aid of gratefully received donations from two visitors to our site. Without these donations we wouldn't have been able to purchase these rare items.

The first is an EP from 1965 credited to Brazzos et O.K. Jazz, it is a Pathé Marconi release labelled EMF 314

http://www.4shared.com/file/Cs4vHNC0/Brazzos_et_Ok_Jazz.html


These are very rare tracks never released on CD. Two of the tracks were only ever released on this EP. The first two appeared as a single on the HMV release Loningisa 1058. We don't have composers for the tracks and presume they were composed by Brazzos.

We like this EP a lot, there are some interesting variations on the standard OK Jazz sound of this time including a nice bluesy bend in Franco's guitar on Cha Cha Cha Del Zombo. The cover of the copy we acquired was quite badly damaged so our apologies for that.

Side A

Cha Cha Cha Del Zombo

Mokili Mobongwani

Side B

Cuidado Cona Mallo

Aya Yo Ozui



The second 45 we have is a single from 1970 with two great tracks. It was released on the African label and it is labelled African 90.485 with an extra label of Epanza-Makita 117. This seems to be an ultra-rare release as there is no mention of it on the online discographies of Ok Jazz.

http://www.4shared.com/file/1VFQ0Sbj/African_90485.html


We particularly like the second track 'Bisenga Senga' which is a composition of the great Mose Fan Fan


Side A

Mathieu Togongana (Checain)

Side B

Bisenga Senga (Fan Fan)


If you enjoyed these rarities please consider donating something to our cause so we can acquire more wonderful rare OK Jazz music like this.

3 Singles from the early 1970's

Here is a link from our friends at World Service which features three single releases from the 1970's. Apparently 4 out of the 5 of these songs were never released on CD or mp3. They're all classics

The first was released in 1973 as Fiesta 51.198 B http://www.mediafire.com/?3immtto4eqz

Side A

Cedou (Simaro)

Side B

B.S.K. (Franco)

The next was released in 1974 as Pathe 2 C006 15717 http://www.mediafire.com/?a3dj1jwclyt

Side A

Mele (Checain)

Side B

Mowunbu Ya Makanisi (Franco)


Finally on the Editions Populaire's label from 1974 is EP 205

http://www.mediafire.com/?mzjutn1djou

Side A

Tata Na Bebe part 1 (Franco)

Side B

Tata Na Bebe part 2 (Franco)




World Service provide impeccable notes on all these singles at this link

http://wrldsrv.blogspot.com/2009/12/staying-ok.html

Authenticite Volume 4 (African 360.078 - 1962/1963)

This is a compilation of tracks recorded between 1962 and 1963. There's a heavy Cuban influence on a lot of these tracks. Most of the tracks are composed by Mujos. Only one is composed by Franco, two of the tracks are early compositions of the Poet Lutumba Simarro.

Seven of these tracks appeared on the CD

FRANCO ET L'OK JAZZ (MUJOS,SIMARO ET KWAMY)
1960/1961/1962 (AFRICAN/SONODISC CD 36511)

This CD is now out of print and it hasn't been made available for
digital download yet. 

The other three tracks, Guitares De L'Enfer, Tele Mujos and
La Vida Del Un Negro, appear never to have been released on CD or mp3

http://www.4shared.com/file/258602231/a2e25438/Authenticite_Vol_4.html

Side A

ELE WA BOLINGO (MUJOS)                               

MIGUEL' CANTA (MUJOS)                               
   
JALOUSIE YA MIMI NA NGAI (MUJOS)                     
   
COMO QUERE (MUJOS)                                   
     
GUITARES DE L'ENFER  (SIMARRO)                       



Side B 

MADO OBOYI SIMARRO? (SIMARRO)                      

TELE-MUJOS (MUJOS)                                   

LICENCIE (SIMEON)                                   

BULUNDUE NA ZONGWEE (FRANCO)                       

LA VIDA DEL UN NEGRO (MUJOS)    

Luambo Makiadi ( Franco ) et son Orchestre OK Jazz - Editions Populaires 10e Anniversaire, Sonodisc 1982

Here's another link from Global Groovers. They've posted lots of great albums by Franco and TPOK Jazz members and we'll be linking a lot of them here to build up the Franco/TPOK Jazz legacy in one place.

This album is a compilation of singles released on the Editions Populaires label between 1965 and 1975. We think none of these tracks were ever reissued on CD or mp3, so this is really rare material.

We usually add who the composers are beside the tracks but we don't know who the composers of these tracks are so any help in identifying them would be appreciated. (Update, we now know all the tracks were composed by Franco thanks to Rumba Bantu.)

http://globalgroovers.blogspot.com/2008/10/luambo-makiadi-franco-et-son-orchestre.html

SIDE A

CINQ ANS EKOKI                                               

SALONGO ALINGI MOSALA                                        

VOTEZ VERT

REPUBLIQUE DU ZAIRE

SIDE B

TOLANDA NZELA MOKO                                       

BA DEPUTE MBILINGA-MBILINGA TOBOYI                       

BELELA AUTHENTICITE NA CONGRES 1&2

MBONGO (VOLUME 3) (AFRICAN/SONODISC 360 108,1977)

Here's an LP we promised earlier. It contains some of the same tracks on the Live on the Afro-European Tour LP but without the annoying overdubbed applause.

This is real classic TPOK Jazz from 1977. Listening to this we think it is terrible all the recordings on the Afro-European Tour LP were not made available without the fake audience noise. Once again Ntesa Dalienst provides one of the best tracks with 'Lisolo Ya Adamo Na Nzambe'

http://www.4shared.com/file/249387131/9d1acb0b/Volume_3.html

Side A

MBONGO (LUTUMBA)                                    

LISOLO YA ADAMO NA NZAMBE (NTESA)
 
LOTAMBE (WUTA MAY)
                       
Side B

BADJEKATE (MPUDI ZI KISALA)                          
  
TAMBWE LUNTADILA (LOLA DJANGI)                     
  
MOLEKA OKONIOKOLO NGAI NTINA? (WUTA MAY) 

African Party (African 360.096)

We were just about to post our own copy of this LP when we noticed it was just uploaded by our friends at Global Groovers here

http://globalgroovers.blogspot.com/2010/03/franco-orchestre-tp-ok-jazz-african.html

This is a compilation released in 1977 of old OK Jazz singles released on the CEFA label in the 1960's. Nice old style Congolese Rumba here, interestingly Franco wrote all but two of the tracks on this LP, the others being by De La Lune.

Franco & Orchestre T.P.O.K. Jazz - African Party (African 360.096)

SIDE A

1 Fuala nbombu ngulu kadia (Franco)
2 Yaka nalongola yo botutu (Franco)
3 Da da de tu amor (Franco)
4 Linzanza ebongi na langi (Franco)
5 Anny sukisa ngai bandoto (De La Lune)
6 Ata mosika yoka mongongo na ngai (De La Lune)

SIDE B

7 Telegramme maloba mokuse (Franco)
8 Nani apedelaki te ? (Franco)
9 Awa nazui likambo oyaki ? (Franco)
10 Libongi lizongi (Franco)
11 Accident ya cherie (Franco)
12 Mbongo zi ya voni (Franco)

Mario (Choc 004 and Choc 005) 1985

Franco's biggest hit was the epic 'Mario' from 1985. The songs success somewhat overshadowed the other songs that were released on the two versions of Mario that were released over the albums Choc 004 and Choc 005.

Whilst 'Mario' is undeniably a classic with a wonderful infectious rhythm, the other songs released on these albums are also excellent. The guitar work on all these songs is just fantastic.

Three of the songs appear never to have been released outside of these original pressings. 'Je M'En Fou De Ton Passe' and 'Esuke' from Choc 004 and 'Likambo Na Moto Te' from Choc oo5. The latter is a real gem composed by Josky with a great bass line and Josky using his majestic voice to the maximum.

We present both LP's here for you. Our copy of 'Choc 004' may be a little warped as it sounds a bit odd at times as if the chorus pedals on the guitars were used on the whole track! If anyone has better quality versions of these tracks we would gratefully receive and post them.

FRANCO ET LE T.P.O.K.JAZZ CHANTENT MARIO (CHOC CHOC 004,1985)

Side A

MARIO (FRANCO)                                                   

Side B

JE M'EN FOU DE TON PASSE (BONYEME)

ESUKE (LOKOMBE)

http://www.4shared.com/file/241346481/36861428/Mario.html

MARIO (CHOC CHOC 005,1985)

Side A

MARIO (PART 2) (Franco)

Side B

LIKAMBO NA MOTO TE (Josky)

EKOTI YA NEUBE (Carlito)                  

http://www.4shared.com/file/241335400/29cddd48/Mario_2.html

15 Years Ago Vol 3 (1986)

We will post something new ourselves soon. In the meantime here's a link to a post from our friends at worldservice. The album 15 Years Ago Vol 3 was pressed in 1986 in Kenya but the tracks are from the early 70's. There was no album cover posted for this one, but we do have the track listing

SIDE A:

SENTENCE (YOULOU)

OU EST LE SERIEUX? (FRANCO)

MAKAMBO MANENO (FRANCO)

MASEKE YA MEME (BAVON MARIE MARIE)

Side B:

NUMERO TA TELEPHONE (YOULOU)

OSABOTE JEAN JEAN (BOYIBANDA)

SUKOLA MOTEMA OLINGA (BRAZZOS)

ANDU WA ANDURA (BOYIBANDA)

http://wrldsrv.blogspot.com/2010/02/fifteen-years-ago-3.html

Two 45's from 1964 (EG 812 and CEFA 205)

Today we present two 45's from 1964.

First up is catalogue CEFA 205 which is credited to Kwamy & l'Orchestre O.K. Jazz. Both songs are composed by Kwamy and neither have ever been available outside of this single release as far as we can tell. We particularly like the change half way through 'Nakobanga Mangungu Te'.

CEFA 205

Side A

Nakobanga Mangungu Te (Kwamy)

Side B

Tolobi (Kwamy)


http://www.4shared.com/file/237256635/4eb21ba2/Cefa_205.html

The second 45 from 1964 is the Pathé EP called OK Jazz "64" No.4 with the catalogue EG 812.

Of most interest here is the track Yambo Carolina which appears not to have been released on any CD or LP. The other tracks are more widely available which is just as well because unfortunately the version of this EP that we have has quite a lot of skips, particularly on the track 'Polo' and it is quite noisy.

Luckily 'Yambo Carolina' doesn't skip and sounds pretty good. The other tracks were re-issued on the Sonodisc CD 36555


Side A

Polo (Franco)

Niongo Na Yo Nakofuta Te (Franco)

Side B

Bolingo Na Bougie (Coimy)

Yambo Carolina (Edo)

http://www.4shared.com/file/237276960/32330f35/Ok_Jazz_64_No_4__Path_EG_812_.html

Nguashi N'timbo - Manguta

Nguashi N'timbo was a member of TPOK Jazz from 1979-1981 and in this time he recorded two albums with them where he was the featured vocalist and composer.

One is called 'Banganga Ya Moyindo' and it was released on N'Timbo's own label. It is available from the following blog.

http://ylow.blogspot.com/2009/06/ngwashi-ntimbo-banganga-ya-moyindo.html

SIDE A

BANGANGA YA MOYINDO
LEMBI
ZALA SERIEUSE

SIDE B

PNEU RESERVE
MOTO YA TRAIN 

The second album is called 'Manguta' from which the title track was a big hit. You can see a live performance of Manguta by TPOK Jazz here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7COog8wwhs0

We also provide the album Manguta here for your listening pleasure. It is a great album never released on CD or mp3. There are a couple of skips on the opening track which couldn't be helped. We're not sure who plays on these albums but we can hear Josky and Ntesa singing at some points and we think we hear Franco's guitar too!

http://www.4shared.com/file/234618177/7eb92077/manguta.html


SIDE A

Manguta (N'Timbo)
Mzazi (N'Timbo)

SIDE B

Bolingo Ya Sens Unique (N'Timbo)
Cheri Ago (N'Timbo)

Three Banned Songs

Here are some youtube links for three songs that were banned and so were never made available on any LP, EP or Single to our knowledge

'Paka Lowi' by Franco, was banned because it criticised a member of government

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkeDjut05iU

'Helene' and 'Jackie' also composed by Franco were banned for

their obscene lyrics which resulted in Franco and half his band being put in jail.

If you understand them you may find these lyrics offensive or funny

depending on your sense of humour!

Jackie Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gsnRkGbgNA

Jackie Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WBkUX7Yu0s&feature=related

Helené

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ernOBdXh0ic&feature=related

Merveilles du Passé 1961

All of the posts so far have been of music from the late 1970's and 80's. Here's some much earlier OK Jazz recordings where the Cuban influence is much stronger. The songs are all much shorter, the band much smaller, but there's a great charm to these recordings and Franco's guitar shines through as usual.

Strangely, none of these songs were written by Franco, they were either written by Vicky, Kwamy or Edo. The album is credited to Vicky, Kwamy, Edo et l'OK Jazz.

http://www.4shared.com/file/233677344/dd9d2d18/Merveilles_Du_Passe_1961.html

Side A

Lobela Ngai Nyonso Oyokaki (Vicky)

O.K. Yasolo Okatisi Ebale (Vicky)

Ngai Se Mwana O.K. (Vicky)

Una Bella Muchacha (Vicky)

Mbongo Ezali Na Suka Te (Kwamy)

Prosabel 2e Avenue Kabondo (Kwamy)

Side B

Gina Garde Tour Pour Moi (Kwamy)

Tika Kobebisa Muana (Kwamy)

Kopakola Ngai Boniama Te (Kwamy)

Yo Tellama (Edo)

Matinda Kolemba Ngai Te (Kwamy)

Ngai Nyao Pantalon Na Mokamba (Edo)

Le Quart De Siecle Volume 5 (1981) Edipop 06

This album is a bit of an oddity. It is volume 5 of Le Quart De Siecle which we posted earlier, however this is not generally considered to go with the other four volumes because it was recorded at a different time.

The album also seems to have been released in two different versions. One features the ultra-rare song 'Honda' in place of 'Ngaliene'. Ngaliene appeared on the Sonodisc CD 8489 (titled '1980-1981') along with the other tracks 'Coupe Du Monde', 'Fabrice' and 'Wallo'. 'Honda' has never been released on CD and it appears it was only released on the rare version of Le Quart De Siecle Vol. 5.

So now this rare Josky composition is available for all along with the other tracks by following this link.

http://www.4shared.com/file/228399325/3d4fb68d/Le_Quart_Vol_5.html


There are some other things of note about this copy of the album. The track 'Fabrice' is much longer than the version released on CD, it also fades out at one point only to start abruptly again.

The album sequence was also incorrectly titled

On the album cover and label the track listing is

Side A

Coupe Du Monde

Fabrice

Side B

Wallo

Honda


The actual sequence of tracks on the LP is as follows

Side A

Coupe Du Monde (Ndombe Opetum)

Honda (Josky)

Side B

Fabrice (Franco)

Wallo (Ntesa Dalienst)

We've also included the track Ngaliene to cover both versions of the LP release.

Apologies for the bad photo reproduction of the LP cover

Live recording on the Afro European Tour

Here is one of the most infamous albums ever released by Franco et TPOK Jazz. Its infamy doesn't lie in the musical content, which is excellent, but in the so called 'live' nature of the recording. These are in fact studio recordings that have badly overdubbed fake audience sounds on them. Quite why this was done we don't know, but it ruins an otherwise brilliant record. If you can get used to the applause the album reaps many rewards.

Several of these tracks were released without the overdubbed applause on the album 'Volume 3' aka 'Mbongo' released in 1977. We recently acquired a copy of this LP and will post it soon.

In the meantime here's the link to the 'live' album provided at the French language blog bolingo.

http://bwaje.com/bolingo/?p=309

Side 1

1 Oh! Miguel (Franco)
2. Sala Lokola Luntadila (Lola)
3 Malou-O Bijou (Mpudi)

Side 2

1. Bomba, Bomba, Mabe (Franco)
2. Na Vanda Bombanda (Dialungana)
3. Libala Ya Bana Na Bana (Lola)

Side 3

1. Lisolo Ya Adamu Na Nzambe (Ntessa)
2 Mama Na Bebe (Wuta-Mayi)
3 Meta Mama Na Bana (Kasongo)

Side 4

1. Mbongo (Lutumba Simaro)
2 Amour Viole (Josky Kiambukuta)
3 Lotambe (Wuta-Mayi)

Sonodisc once again butchered a TPOK Jazz album when they released this on CD.
You can download 9 of the 12 tracks as digital mp3's on iTunes from the Sonodisc CD 'Bomba, Bomba, Mabe.' The other 3 tracks comprising Side 3 of the LP were never re-issued on CD.

http://itunes.apple.com/ie/album/bomba-bomba-mabe-mbongo-1977/id211564654

Franco Presente Le Prince Youlou et le T.P.O.K. Jazz

Here's a link to a great album we've been listening to lately, Franco Presente Le Prince Youlou et le T.P.O.K. Jazz from 1981.

This album is one of series of releases which showcase the talents of OK Jazz members. Here we get the sweet high voice of Youlou Mabiala singing with TPOK Jazz in full flight. We're not sure who wrote the songs but we presume they're all by Youlou. Please correct us if we're wrong!

Thanks to our friends at globalgroovers for the link and for their great blog.

http://globalgroovers.blogspot.com/2009/09/franco-presente-le-prince-youlou-et-le.html

Side 1

MWANA BITENDI

LIBAKU YA MONOKO

Side 2

ILUMBE

FAFY