Sunday, November 16, 2014

Merengue Sounds from West Central Africa


Lovely Congolese 'rumba' band plays a merengue. It's uncanny how similar these Congolese merengue songs were to the guitar-based merengue from the Dominican Republic, and the widespread appeal of Caribbean and Latin music in Central Africa (in addition to influences from Europe, such as Tino Rossi). I highly recommend Dr. Nico's music, African Jazz, and an Angolan band, África Ritmos, for Angolan takes on merengue. If I remember correctly, some members of Les Bantous de la Capitale ended up in the French Antilles, further complicating the waves of musical exchange that connected the Caribbean and Africa during this time. Here's one more merengue from Les Bantous, here!

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