Various

Zaïre 74 – The African Artists

WRASSE. CD/DL/LP The real soundtrack to the Rumble In The Jungle.

Already hinted at in When We Were Kings, the documentary about the 1974 heavyweight contest between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, and the follow-up, Soul Power, which highlighted Kinshasa’s three-day cultural festival around the fight, this set captures the African acts who thought their shows could kickstart their careers overseas. Red tape – Hugh Masekela blames promoter Don King – meant the tapes sat on a shelf for 40 years instead. What did we miss? A fiery set from Miriam Makeba, brilliant fuzzed-up Afrorock from Abumba Masikini, and glorious pop from his sister, Abeti, and the Orchestre Stukas. The highlights, though, come from two of Africa’s greatest bands, Tabu Ley Rochereau’s Afrisa and Franco’s TPOK Jazz, going head to head (Rochereau wins by TKO). For a sobering reminder of context, there are three praise songs for the dictator Mobutu, but don’t let these detract from a brilliant live album.