Odemba OK Jazz All Stars
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.
How could you not like the Odemba OK Jazz All Stars? How could you not keep still? It must be in our genes to be moved by African music. And they were so so entertaining too - two large lovely ladies in glittery dresses and two little men in sharp suits and winklepicker shoes fronted a big band of two sax players, two twirling trumpeters, two guitarists, a very modern looking Bo Diddley bass and an enormous drummer! The 'chief' and MC wore a fantastic white George Melly suit and silver shoes. I'm afraid I didn't catch any of their names and couldn't understand a word of the songs (was one about Asda, another about the three parts of a fish?) - was it in French? But they were described as a Buena Vista Social Club of the Congo, keeping alive the rumba style. They did two hour-long sets in the refurbished Sallis Benney Theatre and this was one of only two UK gigs; the other in Poole! The climax of the night was a line-dancing lesson involving lots of arse shaking and a stage invasion, Africa style. Marvelous! It was being recorded for Andy Kershaw's BBC Radio 3 show, to be broadcast Monday 28 May.
3 comments:
According to http://tinyurl.com/2aokem
the line up was:
1. Madilu System - Vocals
2. Dizzy Mandjeku - Guitar
3. Lokombe Ntal - Vocals
4. Malage De Lugendo - Vocals
5. Nana Wakumu - Vocals
6. Baniel Bambo - Vocals
7. Djo Maly - Bass guitar
8. Toms Ntale -Guitar
9. A. Nzau - Drums
10. Iblo Sax - Sax
11. Didan -Sax
12. Muky - Trumpet
but with 5 vocalists and one trumpeter it don't quite add up!
fred
More clues here
http://tinyurl.com/2gxjwn
Yovo says: "All this of course was just foreplay for the true highlight of the day: the performance of the Odemba OK Rumba All Stars. Led by Dizzy Mandjeku, who is starting to turn into almost a Franco lookalike, very chubby with a checkered suit and an agressive attack on the guitar, and fronted by Lokombe Ntal, looking very distingué in a bordeaux shirt and glasses, and Malage de Lugendo, handsome and slender in suit and tie."
Sounds great. A pity there was no London gig. More on the thread below...
http://www.charliegillett.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4316
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