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Congolese Music / Re: Kaskin I and Kaskin II
« on: April 21, 2024, 12:57 »
There is a proverb that: If something is already good, don't change it. It applies for every song of the classic Wenge. Every cover they did later was less interesting than their originals. The only exception for me is Mboka Liya who could add some more interesing parts to the sebenes during concerts. A good example of this is the Abidjan Concert video from 1997.
A band who was professional and very successful in doing good reinterpretations of their own old songs is Zaiko. Think of the songs: Payment Cash, Crois Moi, Pa Oki, Kamanzi, all those and even many more was "upgraded" later, some multiple times, and those upgrades really meant an upgrade, not a downgrade. In Wenge this was not the case in my opinion. Probably because they did this as a kind or necessity, not as a calling of creativity. Werra and JB separated, they needed their own versions of the old songs, no matter what.
A band who was professional and very successful in doing good reinterpretations of their own old songs is Zaiko. Think of the songs: Payment Cash, Crois Moi, Pa Oki, Kamanzi, all those and even many more was "upgraded" later, some multiple times, and those upgrades really meant an upgrade, not a downgrade. In Wenge this was not the case in my opinion. Probably because they did this as a kind or necessity, not as a calling of creativity. Werra and JB separated, they needed their own versions of the old songs, no matter what.