From Graeme Ewens' "Congo Colossus": "When Franco took the stage he appeared triumphantly alone in the spotlight at the top of some steps wearing a white lace boubou and weighing, as he later told the TV presenter, about 120 kilos. He sang, unaccompanied, a slow talking bolero-blues type song, "Kinshasa Mboka Ya MKambo" (Kinshasa, Town of Problems) in which he spoke directly to the receptive studio audience about his love for and fidelity to Kinshasa, the town of many problems, a town he would always love even though he was accused of deserting it for Europe, where people suspected he made his wealth by running drugs. It was the spectacular entry of a supremely confident star returning to his own people. He had the audience in his grasp as he descended the staircase, speaking out his feelings in a slow and soulful way before calling for the blue Gibson guitar and making that do the talking. Once esconced in the wrap-around sound of the complete TP OK Jazz, Franco played a stunner, lest the people of Kinshasa had forgotten whose town it was."
Time: 08:54
Author: rahndi |
