Jupiter & Okwess – BAM MetroTech – July 19, 2018
One more case of, if I knew the words they were singing I might have had an additional dimension of appreciation. But what I got was plenty fine anyhow. From the Congo! Maybe I wouldn’t even be able to identify the language. Plenty of rhythm and cross-rhythm, those dueling guitars, and they had some audience members up on stage to dance for a few numbers. I don’t know what up with the drummer wearing a (Mexican wrestler?) mask . When I got around to documenting the names, it turns out that nearly all have three names, which seem to get used or not in different contexts on the web. So I hope I did justice with my annotations. The closer (not the encore) was a gorgeous a capella number – I think every single one of ’em was singing.
Jupiter Bokondji Ilola
Blaise Sewika
Richard Kabanga
Eric Malu Malu
Yende Balamba
Montana Kinunu