The Voice of Lightness

Throughout the 1960s and early ‘70s the Congolese vocalist Tabu Ley Rochereau led one of the most accomplished and popular outfits on the African continent. Though Rochereau and his band scored numerous pan-continental hits and effectively popularized the lilting Caribbean influenced sekou style of playing, Rocheraeu’s work is not as well known in the West as it ought to be. Thankfully the superb British imprint Stern’s Africa has gone a long ways towards righting this injustice by issuing the exhaustive two-disc set, The Voice of Lightness which features many of Tabu Ley’s seminal ‘60s and ‘70s sides. Listeners more familiar with West African funk and Highlife will be surprised by the crisp, gentle quality of Rochereau’s work, which features intricate tremolo- laden guitar lines, sweetly harmonized backing vocals, and restrained percussion. The laid-back style of these recordings stands in stark contrast to the work of feted funk superstars like Fela Kuti, but occupies an equally important place in the history of African popular music.