Beyanga

There is something transcendental about M’Bilia Bel’s shimmering soprano voice combined with Tabu Ley’s wandering melodies and lush arrangements. It’s no surprise that their partnership transformed Ley’s Afrisa International into one of the most prominent bands in Congo, rivaled only by Franco’s TPOK, and led Bel to becoming one of the biggest pan-African stars throughout the 1980s. Though she had started singing with Sam Mangwana a few years earlier, her career only really took off when she joined Tabu Ley’s Afrisa International in 1981. Beyanga was originally released in 1987, although this 1994 Syllart Records version appears to have three extra songs on it, originally released as singles. Tracks like the lovely “Beyanga” and “Mobali Na Ngai Wana” are the perfect example of the slower soukous pioneered by Ley (he was overtaken in the late 1980s and ‘90s by much faster, dance oriented style of Kanda Bongo Man and others). The percussion is tight and precise, often shifting gears completely, but Bel and the band makes it all feel warm and effortless.