Verckys & Orchestre Veve - Congolese Funk, Afrobeat and Psychedelic Rumba 1969 - 1978

Analog Africa present 11 tracks by Verckys et L�Orchestre V�v� at the height of their most funky capabilities. Check!

Congo�s turbulent and exhilarating �70s: Nightclubs and dance floors were packed to the brim in the capital, Kinshasa.
Exuberant crowds, still giddy from independence a decade prior, grooved to the sounds of the country`s classics. In fact the whole continent was submerged into the Congolese Rumba craze. Encouraged by the fantastic productions of the Ngoma label, vibrant radio waves had been spreading the Congo sound from Leopoldville all over the continent, becoming the countries� No.1 export. The unexpected success nurtured an incredible wealth of talented musicians. One of them was Verckys, who, at age 18, became a member of the country�s most dominant and influential band; Franco�s OK Jazz.

This �relationship� however was short-lived as Verckys, aka Georges Mateta Kiamuangana, now a versatile and potent multi instrumentalist, had plans of his own - the formation of Orchestre V�v� in 1968, with the aim of reinventing and modernising the Congolese sound. Blending the ever influential prowess of James Brown with Congolese Merengue, Rumba and Soukous, Verckys stripped away the conventional approach that O.K. Jazz had pioneered, allowing his saxophone-laced melodies to dominate.