Mondays mp3: Big African Fun

In going through some old music recently, I found a wonderful compilation of performances at the Dutch Music Meeting festival from 2001-2003. These aren't commercially available, so they're really a treat if you can find them (or find a radio station that plays them for you!).

"Rumba Makossa" is something of a swinging, Latinized version of the Dibango classic "Soul Makosa," a song that was originally recorded as a B-side for "Mouvement Ewondo," a tune about Cameroon's football (soccer) team. "Soul Makossa" was picked up by DJs and soon eclipsed the A-side song and the rest is history.

Dibango has recorded various "Soul Makossa" versions (All Music Guide lists 56 recordings of the song by Dibango himself and a raft of other artists). This one features Congolese master collaborator Ray Lema, and a turntablist whose name I can't find right now (does anyone know?). Enjoy...

[mp3] Manu Dibango & Ray Lema: Rumba Makossa
from Music Meeting 2001-2003 Festival Highlights

More info on the festival at www.musicmeeting.nl
for a gritty funk version of the original "Soul Makossa," check out this video.