Rumba on the River:
A History of the Popular Music of the Two Congos


by
Gary Stewart

Click the book cover to learn more.


Retro Blog
(check here for weekly backdates)

7 December 1993
Coda: For Dechaud...

30 June 1993
It's our last day in Brazzaville...

29 June 1993
Back downtown at the U.S. Embassy...

28 June 1993
Breakfast in town at La Marquise...

27 June 1993
We still haven't interviewed Nino Malapet...

26 June 1993
We'll be interviewing Pamelo Mounk'a today...

25 June 1993
We hope to see Pamelo Mounk'a today...

24 June 1993
We leave for Brazzaville today...

23 June 1993
We plan to return to Brazzaville today...

22 June 1993
Gerry Dialungana drops by the hostel this morning...

21 June 1993
Today’s the day we’re supposed to meet both Wendo and Verckys...

20 June 1993
We go back to the Chantilly for breakfast...

19 June 1993
(Part Two)
Roitelet has told us that Mwanga Paul is still alive...

19 June 1993
(Part One)
We’ve spent our last night in Kintambo...

18 June 1993
A search for
Roitelet and Dechaud is on our docket for today...


16 June 1993
Beth is sick this morning...

15 June 1993
We're not quite as tense as we were yesterday...

14 June 1993
Things don't appear to be back to normal...

13 June 1993
There is some activity in the streets...

12 June 1993
This is the day for our visit to Musée Pandi...

11 June 1993
Essous, his assistant Canta, and I head off to Nino Malapet’s house...

10 June 1993
Roitelet was supposed to come over from Kinshasa today...

9 June 1993
Kosmos comes to the hotel for an interview...

8 June 1993
We go to the recording studio with Essous this morning...

7 June 1993
The city appears to be back to normal today...

6 June 1993
Election day. “Ville morte (dead city).”

5 June 1993
Michel Boybanda comes for his interview just after noon today...

4 June 1993
We’ve been waiting with anticipation...

3 June 1993
Very interesting evening in Essous's hotel room...

2 June 1993
We go for dinner (Wednesday) at a Senegalese restaurant...

1 June 1993
A taking care of business day...

31 May 1993
Today we'll find a major music archive...

30 May 1993
Had coffee at a Lebanese place and fresh croissants from a stand at a nearby corner this morning...

29 May 1993
Spent the previous night at a small downtown hotel after arriving in Brazzaville...

May 1993
Times are tough in the cradle of Congo Music...

1992-1993
Back home in Washington, D.C., I spent much of 1992...

Dec 1991-Jan 1992
Following our interviews in Brussels, Beth took off to meet friends in Berlin...

Brussels, Dec 1991
Despite Franco’s death and the dismantling of his business...

Oct - Dec 1991
Soon after our encounter with Gilles Sala...

October 6, 1991
Went to sit in on Gilles Sala's radio program Salarama...

October 2, 1991
At 5:00 p.m., after a day going through old Bingo magazines...

October 1, 1991
Tuesday night we go to Rigo Star's "office" for our long-awaited interview with Mbilia Bel...

September 30, 1991
Diblo Dibala meets us at the train station in Châtenay-Malabry...

September 24, 1991
We drop into AMG Productions, the headquarters of Abeti...

September 20, 1991 (part 2)
Friday evening we've been invited to dine at Farafina...

September 20, 1991 (part 1)
After Beth's morning meeting with a woman for whom she's done editing work...

September 19, 1991
This morning we interviewed Moumouni Ouattara...

September 17, 1991
Another good session with Essous today...

September 16, 1991
Nyboma and Bopol are to come for interviews today...

September 11, 1991
This morning we travel to our long-awaited rendezvous with Jean Serge Essous...

September 10, 1991
Interview today withSyran M'Benza...

September 5, 1991
Back again to see Rigo Star. We mis-communicated once and missed...

September 4, 1991
Some of our Paris contacts have urged us to talk to Fylla Saint-Eudes...

September 3, 1991
Colette LaCoste and Charles Maniatakis, the people behind Safari Ambiance...

August 30, 1991
Today it's an interview with Papa Wemba...

August 26, 1991
Eddy Gustave and wife come by as arranged...

August 24, 1991
Off to see Manu Dibango in the 20th Arrondissement in eastern Paris...

August 17, 1991
With Breakout now in the final phases of publication, research begins in earnest for the book I hope to write...

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