Kékélé

When Guillermo Portabales, the Cuban singer-guitarist who popularized the island nation’s country ditties (called guajiras), died in 1970, he had no idea his records had made a sizable impression on musicians half a world away in the Congo. By featuring many of the songs that inspired Congolese rumba, the discs acquainted Kinshasa’s pop fans with pioneering Cuban tunesmiths like Nico Saquito. Anyone familiar with African  classics like Joseph “La Grande Kallé” Kabasele’s “Indépendance Cha Cha” or Franco’s “Merengue” knows that the Congo’s hotshots beefed up the Afro part of the Afro-Cuban synthesis, paving the way for the lilting, guitar-driven soukous that would rule the ’70s.

Portabales’s legacy is at the center of Kinavana, the splendid new disc by Kékélé, the supergroup comprising veterans of Congolese rumba’s golden years. The melodies will be familiar to fans of the Cuban canon, even though the relaxed rhythms have a decidedly African fleetness, and the lyrics are in Lingala rather than Spanish. Producer-arranger Nelson Hernandez—known for his work with Celia Cruz—employs more guest stars than on previous Kékélé outings (including soukous star Mbilia Bel, saxist Manu “Soul Makossa” Dibango and percussionist Luisito Quintero). In many instances, the Kékélé principals (singers Nyboma, Loko Massengo, Wuta Mayi and Bumba Massa) alter the subject matter to fit Kinshasa themes. For example, “Ba Kristo,” the track based on Portabales’s famed wagoneering song “El Carretero,” actually admonishes Kinshasa’s evangelicals for their efforts to ban non-Christian music. In Central Africa, it seems, rumba can still function as rebel music.—K. Leander Williams