Friday, August 4, 2006

KEKELE"Kinavana"
Stern's

THE IMPECCABLE THIRD album by Kekele, a Paris-based Congolese quintet, is named after a place that technically doesn't exist but has been exporting dynamic music for more than a half-century. "Kinavana" combines Kinshasa and Havana, the two terminuses of the musical exchange program that produced the style rumba Congo. The chattering polyrhythm, call-and-response vocals and sweetly staccato instrumentation all sound purely Cuban, but, of course, there's no such thing as purity in Cuba's musical melange. In fact, as Kekele's Nyboma Mwan'dido explains, the word "rumba" is a corruption of "nkumba," a venerable Congolese dance.

Kekele was formed in 2000, but its members are veterans of Congolese bands from the 1960s and '70s. These combos were inspired by Cuban recordings, and so the members of Kekele decided to revisit their influences. Specifically, "Kinavana" celebrates Cuban musician Guillermo Portabales, who died before learning that his music had become popular in Africa. The album interprets 12 songs that Portabales wrote or recorded, with Kekele deftly supplemented by such African stars as saxophonist maestro Manu Dibango and singer Mbilia Bel. Lush ballads such as "Oh Miguel" should appeal to the Buena Vista Social Club following, but most of the selections are more upbeat. Call it rumba or nkumba, "Kinavana" knows how to dance.

-- Mark Jenkins