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CD
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RETRO 015CD
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Originally released in 2001. Kiamuangana Mateta, better known as Verckys, is one of the most famous characters in Congolese music. An outstanding saxophonist with a vigorously funky sound, he was still a teenager when he started playing in prominent bands and only 20 when the great Franco recruited him into OK Jazz, the top band in the land, in 1964. In addition to being a talented instrumentalist, composer, and arranger, Verckys was a showman whose stage antics and dancing won him an avid following that stayed with him when he quit OK Jazz to lead his own Orchestre Vévé in 1969. He started his own record company, Vévé, and proved to be one of the savviest talent scouts and entrepreneurs in the Congolese music business, discovering or putting together many of the best bands of the second generation. His greatest legacy is probably the Orchestre Vévé records he made in the late '60s and early '70s, when Loko Massengo and Saak Saakoul were among the singers and the lead guitarist was Roxy Tshimpaka. Here are ten exemplary tracks for your listening delectation and dancing pleasure.
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