By Jaston Binala.
If you are watching the red glow of a tropical sunset from slopes of a mountain– and the wind is whispering through the trees –you are probably somewhere in Africa.
If the Abyssinian nightjar is singing from a distance in the dead of night, and a cricket sings and skips a beat every now and then from a nearby bush in the middle of a star spangled night, you are definitely somewhere in Africa–the continent which never runs out of soothing sound.
But this article is not about Abyssinian nightjars; it is not about whispering winds or crickets in the night; it is about central African music–the music of Lokua Kanza of Congo in particular. Through him, I am going to repeat today my consistent contention that Africans live to love.
Some of you will probably argue Lokua Kanza sings with emotion– take for instance his song ’si tu pars’–the poetry written for somebody to stay–to not go away. I’d say Lokua Kanza does not sing with emotion— he sings with love made in Africa! And I trust at the end of your listening you will agree with me Africans live to love!
Of course Lokua Kanza is not the only African artist to represent the African spirit of love. The African spirit of love as expressed through music spans the entire continent . It is also an open secret it spills over into the African diaspora.
If you want to prove this you could simply travel to the tiny island of Martinique—far, far away in the Caribbean Sea. Ask to attend the music performance of Gerald Toto. Now Gerald might be Creole, but he has the African blood in him, and it will show in his music!
