Kanda Bongo Man: Sai-Liza (1987)

It's 30 degrees here. Time to dig out some equally hot African rhumba with this trend-setting album that established Kanda's special brand of driving, guitar-heavy Congolese rhumba.

Kanda speeded-up the tempo of the Congolese rhumba considerably and renounced the brass section that was common until then. Instead he allowed lots of space for the tireless guitar noodling of Diblo Dibala. He also introduced a new dance, the Kwassa-Kwassa ("On danse le Kouassa-Kouassa on y va?" is written on the cover.)

It's hard to pick favourites here. All tracks have extra-sweet vocals from Kanda, seemingly endless guitar soli from Diblo and the super solid rhythm guitar of Lokassa. The tempo varies only slightly throughout the album, with some tracks starting at average speed and others jumping at you from the first beat.

Can't think of a better invitation to dance than this music. Doesn't matter if you can dance the Kwassa-Kwassa or make up your own moves.

Kanda Bongo Man: Sai-Liza
Kanda Bongo Man Records BM 0058
France, 1987

A1 Sai 6:24
A2 Bedy 5:12

B1 Liza 6:32
B2 Cantique 5:15
B3 Naloti 5:14

Kanda Bongo Man (voc) Diblo (lead g) Lokassa (rhythm g) Pablo (b) Ty Jan (d, perc) Rateau-Venance (synth) Gena Mandako, Evelyne Marlin (bg voc) Pepe Solo, Fifi (animation)