Jupiter & Okwess - Rendez-vous à Paris '2021

Tracks list

Jupiter and Okwess transcend the Congo’s unexplored musical heritage and
dive into a pool of modernity. Jean-Pierre Bokondji, aka « Jupiter », a
sort of ghetto Don Quixote, (or a lanky wading bird dressed in a
general’s uniform), was born on the 16th December 1963, in Kinshasa. From
East Berlin – where he grew up - to Kinshasa, from James Brown to the
ultra-dominant Congolese rumba style, Jupiter decided to create his own mode of
musical expression. Just like the writing of the African philosopher, Zamenga
Batukezanga, Jupiter’s lyrics focus on the painful past, and how to
overcome it. Gathered around Jupiter are the Okwess faithful: Montana (of Staff
Benda Bilili) on drums and Yendé on bass, guitarists Eric and Richard and the
singer Blaise.
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Lema first became involved in music playing church organ for five years. By the
time he entered college, he was already playing keyboard in Kinshasa clubs for
artists like , Abeti, , and Tabu Ley. He worked with the Ballet du Zaire and
from 1974 to 1978 toured the country studying folklore. He won a Rockefeller
grant for study in the U.S. in 1979. Lema's grounding in folklore and
choreography, as well as music, helped him break through in the '80s and
maintain a reputation as a soukous musician not content to be pigeonholed in
that style. He recently signed with the international label Mango. 

Tracklist:
1.01 - Ray Lema, Jupiter & Okwess - Interview (partie 1) (26:29) 
1.02 - Ray Lema, Jupiter & Okwess - Nkoy (5:01) 
1.03 - Ray Lema, Jupiter & Okwess - Interview (partie 2) (3:03) 
1.04 - Ray Lema, Jupiter & Okwess - Interlude (0:23) 
1.05 - Ray Lema, Jupiter & Okwess - Aza Villageois (4:27) 
1.06 - Ray Lema, Jupiter & Okwess - Inteview (partie 3) (10:22)

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