El Son De Congo [2LP]

Various Artists - El Son De Congo [2LP]

El Son De Congo is a new double-LP compilation in Planet Ilunga's Les Éditeurs Congolais series, focusing on the first generation of Congolese record-label owners. This volume turns to Cefa and Tcheza, two labels managed by Roger Izeidi, the most prolific entrepreneur in 1960s Congolese music, whose labels produced around 1,400 songs spanning rumba, cha-cha-cha, pachanga, bolero, folkloric and religious music.

The largely unknown, strongly Latin-tinged selection spans the early to mid-1960s. Side A features Bantou Jazz, recorded in Brussels in November 1961 for Cefa; Side B features OK Jazz's 1962-63 Brussels recordings for Cefa; and the second disc presents ten tracks from the Tcheza label's two biggest bands, Conga Succès and Négro Succès. Released with the permission of Roger Izeidi's heirs, the 2LP set includes a 4-page risograph-printed insert.