zaterdag 5 november 2011

T.J.R. Label


Bassplayer, arranger and producer Aladji Toure is, together with guitar wizard Toto Guillaume, one of the most influential men behind the "New Wave Makossa" of the last three decades. Since 1982 Toure has released over 300 albums on his T.J.R. label. His cataloque contains mainly Makossa albums, supplemented with some Bikutsi, Bend Skin and Congolese artists such as Nguma Lokito and Yondo Syster. He brougt many Makossa singers to fame such as Moni Bile, Guy Lobe, Charlotte Mbango and more recently Joly Priso and Eriko.

The following series of record covers include the catalog numbers 057 to 100. This immediately raises the question why the first LP released on the T.J.R. label starts with number 057 and not with 001. Also in this series the numbers 073 and 093 seem to have been skipped. At least I have not been able to find them in recent years. If someone can answer the question why the series starts with 057 then I would like to hear that. Information about the missing numbers 073 and 093 is also welcome.
 

 





woensdag 6 juli 2011

Africa Oumba (AOLP series) by Jules Patrick Wonga 1980 - 1984

 
Between 1980 and 1984 producer Jules Patrick Wonga released a small series LP's on his Africa Oumba (AOLP) record label. The series contains mainly Makossa albums, supplemented with some Bikutsi and Cameroon Soukous albums. Looking back can be concluded that the series contains many albums that became 'classics'.

The series starts with Dikom lam la moto, the fantastic LP that Emile Kangue made after he left The Black Styl's to start a solo career. Also Penda Dalle's first album Yadi, Axel Mouna's Juventus and Ndedi Dibango's Epapala - just to name a few - are a part of these series. Jean Paul Mondo's Sona Papa was the final LP that came out in these series.

Unfortunately, I am not in possession of No. AOLP 018 and have not been able to find any information about this album either. Therefore, I do not know if an album was ever released under No. AOLP 018. There is one source that mentions an album under No. AOLP 019 with the title Misso Ma Ndolo by Leroy Mbengue. Because there are no tracks mentioned and also a picture of the sleeve is missing from this source, I doubt whether this information is correct. All the more so because the album Sona Papa by Jean Paul Mondo was released under the number AOLP 019. I am interested in any information that might solve the mystery surrounding AOLP 018.

In addition to the AOLP series, Jules Patrick Wonga released at least one 45rpm 7Inch single and two 45rpm 12Inch maxi singles. These are also included in this discography as well as four albums released in co-production with Dibena Music (Toto Guillaume) and Editions Tata Ngoh (Francois Misse Ngoh), among others.

THE AFRICA OUMBA DISCOGRAPHY
























zaterdag 25 juni 2011

Jacques Dewilsonno

My previously asked question in this post for more information about this artist yielded 1 response; a reference to a short message in "Le Messager" (Douala) of 28 April 2010. It states that the Misaka Group has been given a new chief, the then 57-year-old Jacques Dipoko Ebenguè. The message states, among other things, that the man is not only a versatile entrepreneur, but that he became known as a singer-songwriter under the name of Dewilsonno in the late 1970s.
As far as I can tell, he has released two 45 rpm singles in that period, one of which together with Njoh Billy Francis, also unknown to me.