Franco & le Tout Puissant OK Jazz
Francophonic: Vol. 1 1953-1980
Rating: 4.5
Label: Stern’s Africa
The first volume of Neil Young’s Archives has finally been released. This monolith of 10 DVDs had been rumored to appear for decades and it finally makes its storied arrival after a history of false starts and rumors. Banking on Young’s popularity alone, Reprise Records will make a fortune, selling the same songs to the same folks with different packaging.
The marketing machine is a powerful creature, yet when someone such as Franco, one of the best and most popular Congolese bandleaders that ever lived, finally has his work collected in one package does anyone bat an eyelid? I’m sure most people (if they had enough scratch) would go for the safety of Young’s honeyed pipes. But let me ask you this: when Young finally passes away, will the Canadian or US government honor his passing by playing his music for four straight days just as Congo did when Franco died in 1989?
Francophonic is an essential collection of 28 tracks that span most of the musician’s storied career. Born an urchin, Franco built his first guitar at seven, began busking at 11 to support his family following his father’s death and at 15 signed a multi-year record contract. Bob Dylan couldn’t invent a timeline such as this. Beginning with “Esengo ya mokili,” one of the first tracks cut by the teenage Franco, this collection is an odyssey that allows us to listen to the evolution of this musician.
Most of the songs that make up the first disc “On entre O.K.” are in the style of rumba, a bastardization of the Cuban rhythm. Using Latin sounds was all the rage at the time to urban Africans, but it’s the infusion of the Afro element, that rhythmic element indigenous to both modern and tribal African sounds, that make these songs distinct. By adopting the word “jazz,” Franco’s group used that connotation to signify that his group was not just some half-baked local ensemble, but instead a top-notch group of players in their own right.
Perhaps what is most striking about Francophonic is the raw quality of the music. It is not gussied up for the digital age. These tracks sound like field recordings, straight from the dancehalls and ballrooms of Congo. Just like the Buena Vista All-Stars craze from 10 years ago, these are songs that you shouldn’t stop playing. Spin these discs at a party, play them as you relax this summer in your backyard. This music is the essence of class.
Even though Franco is not front and center for many of these songs, deferring to other musicians and singers, the music contained within is his and his alone. Most of us probably have never had the privilege of hearing this master at work. You can buy “Heart of Gold” for $8 on a used copy of Harvest. Why not try a new crop and invest your money in Francophonic instead?
by David Harris
