Ray Lema celebrates Franco Luambo

By: Joe Farmer Follow

A year ago, on June 15, 2019, pianist Ray Lema gathered in Kinshasa a group of fine international instrumentalists and singers to salute the memory of a major figure in Congolese popular culture, the famous and late Franco Luambo.

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Organized as part of the JazzKif festival, this highly acclaimed concert was also an important moment in Ray Lema's artistic and personal journey. Absent from his native country for over 30 years, he reconnected with his contemporaries, his roots, his memories. On June 19, 2020, the album recorded during this exceptional performance will be released under the title " On entre KO, on sort OK" . Ray Lema returns for us this week to this moment of wriggling grace so dear to his heart.

Franco Luambo was a prominent figure in the Congolese musical landscape of the 1970s. Paying homage to him is a real challenge that requires audacity, experience and legitimate cultural appropriation. The science of rhythms and harmonies that Ray Lema masters to perfection allows him to take up this challenge. By mingling the rumba tone of his elder brother with meticulously distilled jazz, the pianist has managed to update Franco Luambo's repertoire without distorting the original spirit, essence and purpose. Beyond the adaptation, it was imperative to respect the words of the great storyteller that was Franco Luambo. Ray Lema therefore surrounded himself with seasoned accomplices capable of restoring the sound texture and the rogue poetry of the master of Congolese rumba.

Behind this reverence leaning on a pillar of Congolese culture, Ray Lema also wanted to strike a few scratches at the prejudices and short cuts. For a long time, traditional music from Central Africa was considered folk. This pejorative vision of an essential heritage is the sad consequence of shameless colonialism. The term "folklore" is the resounding echo of a degrading vocabulary that the Belgian authorities did not hesitate to instill in people's minds before independence. This observation, bitterly regretted by Ray Lema, spokesperson for the coalition of artists in charge of the general history of Africa with Unesco, has disastrous consequences for the universal recognition of a heritage. We can therefore only emphasize the laudable intention of the Congolese pianist and conductor to rehabilitate an art whose value should not suffer in the 21st century from the lexical conveniences observed for so many years. Ray Lema is sorry to hear young Congolese people evoking the "folk" music of their ancestors. It is imperative to instill in this ill-informed generation the meaning of words and the pride of their traditions.

At the end of his concert in Kinshasa, exactly one year ago, Ray Lema had the feeling of having done useful work and of having linked several eras. This meeting there could not be a blow of sword in the water. The symbol was stronger than the performance itself. His youth training in Congolese national ballet should not take him any longer from the popular music of his native land. His bet was successful and the cheers of the public testified vigorously. This moment, now remembered by the spectators of JazzKif 2019, should be shared. As African icons leave us (Manu Dibango, Tony Allen, Mory Kanté), preserving the source of expressiveness is a requirement for any creator attached to his roots. Ray Lema holds the key to transmission and knows, more than anyone, that his role becomes a duty!

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