Maria Tebbo
If you have to pick "the classic" Sam Mangwana album, this would be it. He worked with both Franco and Rochereau, so he had the pedigree by the '70s to do whatever he wanted.Mangwana's earthy, rumba-heavy protosoukous is a pleasure to listen to. Each guitar line from Syan M'Benza or Sammy Massamba seems to go on forever, as Mangwana croons (and croon is really the right word) about love and life and girls, girls, girls and the band spurs him on with sinuous and sultry (never either lewd or cute) rhythms. These 1979 tracks are a pan-African textbook, with hints of folk and pop from Angola, Cameroon, and Zimbabwe always bubbling just under the surface. It is the perfect Mangwana album. Plus, the CD includes both the fullMaria Tebboplus another set of tracks from the "almost as good"Waka Wakafrom 1978.--Louis Gibson