Sound D'Afrique Volume 1: Soukous Dance Party on Mango

Sound D'Afrique Volume 1 is a fun collection of African Dance Music that came out on Mango records in the 1981. It was the first Soukous collection released on a major label for a Western audience. If you have a compelling need of cheering up, this album would definitely do the trick.

The album is a six track sampler that has songs from groups from five African nations, from the French speaking areas of Africa, though African languages are sung throughout. I don't have a lot of information on this album, but I do know that it sounds great, joyous in fact. The only band I recognize is Etoile De Dakar from Senegal.

Me Bowa Ya is the first track and it is a killer, with the great swinging horn line at the start. Makes you want to hop off the couch and start dancing. It is by Mekongo from Cameroon, which may actually be Mekongo President, the closest name of a group I could find. I'm listening to it now and I'm jerking my head back and forth like the "Night at the Roxbury" brothers from Saturday Night Live. Absolutely stellar.




Massoua Mo is next, by Eba Aka Jerome the Ivory Coast, a sunny seven and a half minute guitar workout with multiple vocalists. One of the real highlights here is Bo Mbanda, by Pablo, from what was then known as Zaire, now Congo. I love the guitar breaks where you have two different interlocking guitar riffs going on at the same time. And again great horn parts and group vocals.



Rounding out the album Kambou Clement from Upper Volta perform Dounougnan, a more toned down dance number with sharply chiming guitar work. Etoile de Dakar (Senegal) perform Jalo, a warm mellow number with great dramatic lead vocals by Youssou N'Dour. The album ends strongly with Moboma by Menga Mokombi which is absolutely beautiful, a wonderful finish to a terrific album.

I'm sorry that I don't know more about this. There are no liner notes to speak of here. I don't know what they are saying, and I don't know the band personnel or singers. But nonetheless this is a record that moves me. I know I see comments in Amazon regarding African pop Cds from expatriate Africans. Almost invariably a person will state, "I grew up with this music, or I used to listen to this on cassette when I was a teenager--I now hear this music again after all these years and I cry (or at least put me in a state of joy)." I can only imagine what that must feel like. All the familiarity, memories, nostalgia for homeland and family and friends. I feel a lot when I hear this music and that's coming from an entirely different and less significant level. It's too bad that this is so very out of print. It probably would be a lot easier to get this on vinyl. But at least for the time being you can at least hear a little bit of this great music right now.