After Franco
Kasongo Musanga
From the 1950s until the 1980s, Franco Luambo Makiadi and his TPOK Jazz orchestra profoundly shaped the sound of African music across the continent, and subsequently the popular music of the world through artists such as Paul Simon and Talking Heads. Yet Franco is little known outside Africa and his 1,000 compositions are hardly represented on recordings. Now just over twenty years since Franco’s death in 1989, Kasongo Musanga tells the story of ‘The Sorcerer of the Guitar’, from whose shadow Congolese music is still emerging.
The music of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has faced a dilemma since the death of its greatest exponent, Franco Luambo Makiadi. The leader of TPOK Jazz, Franco’s orchestra defined the sound of Congolese music from the late 1950s until his death in 1989. Within Africa, Franco is an icon. His death, however, prompted a steady decline in Congolese music in the 1990s and in many ways it remains overshadowed by him.
Sam Mangwana, one of his most celebrated collaborators, described Franco’s importance in Graeme Ewens’ Congo Colossus: ‘Franco was unique. Like...
