How Franco influenced our music

Nairobi. It is 24 years since the king of rumba Franco died;  and though many have referred to him at some point as the tiger that never pounced, he remains an icon.

His critics cite his close association with Mobutu Sese Seko as one of the down ends of his music, but it does not negate his own virtuosity as an artiste and band leader.

As a band leader, Franco remained focused on the group turning it into a breeding house for an ever growing galaxy of music talents.

Even when he had to play seated, too weak to stand, the grand maitre was there for himself and his band reputably was Africa’s most successful music group.  In music, Franco is still the personification of rumba which is a variety of Cuban music that is based on a similar big band concept that was popular in the 1950s.

Veteran Kenyan musician David Amunga describes rumba as the music of the first generation of the African elite who constituted the ruling class.

They were the first black people to venture into the ballroom dance experience and the sophistication of the then emerging social class.

“It was a new setting of urbanites who were well-schooled in urban sophistication and the concept of Pan Africanism that was in vogue in the early 1960s,” he says.

TPOK Jazz singer, the late Madilu, noted this describing rumba as the music for the African elite.

“Our fans are the big people,” he once said.

The genre was widely embraced in East and Central Africa as the ingredient in emerging innovation that targeted the urban audience.

Unlike most other artistes with long careers whose music changes with time, Franco’s music did not and never appeared to affect his popularity.

This was notwithstanding the fact that other singers made efforts to change the rumba creating more upbeat variation with gritty guitar riffs and use of animations.

In this vein, Orchestra Sosoliso, who had a short-lived union in the 1970s, temporarily disrupted the OK Jazz reign with a vibrant variation of rumba punctuated by use of high flown guitar licks, a shift from the laid back Spanish style harmonies of TP OK Jazz.

Tabu Lay also had a delectable variation and Muzina, though remaining rooted in traditional DRC rumba, has a bounce and vocal hook line that is unique.

Papa Wemba has tried different things but appears more entrenched in more traditional form.

However, probably the more eclectic offering came from Ray Lema who had built a career with rumba that drew heavily from his many years as a seminarian where he studied Western classical music. His 1998 orchestral classical piece, Dreams of the Gazelle, was hailed as a masterpiece and performed by many orchestras in Europe.

Koffi Olomide’s early years cultivated a career playing music that was more Spanish, earning the tag of African Julio Iglesias, but made a clear shift with African music in intervening years.

A debate is ongoing on how much longer the genre can last, but for now it appears quite safe. “I still hear from Zaiko Langa Langa with the mainstream rumba and they are big in Congo,” says DS Njoroge.

On the future, British music programmer Guy Morley, sees focus shifting to the sub-genre from Tanzania which has continued to enjoy increased international interest.

Njoroge agrees and adds that although Congo helped to raise the profile, Tanzanians have created more memorable songs that have had longer resonances and are much more accessible.

Groups such as Les Wanyika with Sina Makosa, Western jazz with Rosa, Afro 70’s classic Dirishani, form part of the rich collection of rumba classics from Tanzania which have survived generations.

There is similarity in the circumstances that fostered the boom in that genre in DRC and Tanzania in that music had strong support from their governments.

In DRC, OK Jazz, Orchestra Veve, Afrisa International and Doctor Nico all played rumba while in Tanzania, Morogoro Jazz Band, Jamhuri Jazz Band, Cuban Marimba Band, Western Jazz, Afro 70, Nuta Jazz, Vijana Jazz and Dar es Salaam Jazz Band also fitted in the same groove. It takes such a concerted movement to overwhelm a market and it did for that genre.

By contrast, there was no government support for music from the Kenyan government.

Early big bands in Kenya sought different music identities with early groups such as The Ashantis, Air Fiesta Matata, Hodi Boys, Cavaliers and solo artistes like Fadhili William, Fundi Konde and Daudi Kabaka borrowing influences.

However, the Maroon Commandoes who still play in Nairobi was as close as rumba could get.

Generally, Kenya was a melting pot of African and other cultures, allowing diverse influences at all levels.  Unlike the peers in DRC who maintained strong Cuban roots, Tanzanians injected a distinct Arabic influence and had the advantage of Kiswahili.

Notably, the Congolese who settled in Tanzania adapted to the Kiswahili language and the general influence of rumba played there to develop a unique crossover sound.

The likes of DDC Milimani and Orchestra Macquis are good examples just like in Kenya where Kangee Brothers, Orchestra Virunga (with Samba Mapangala), Super Mazembe, Orchestra Popolipo and Mangelepa also incorporated local influences to flavour their Congolese rumba.

Incidentally, this East African flavour has found appeal internationally partly due to the accessibility through a language that is widely spoken and a song structure that makes it easy to follow.

 But all this may not dampen enthusiasm for Franco’s music and his material continues across the world ensuring his presence at the global level.