🇨🇩🎷🪘👨🎤💿 Published in 1985, Mario is without doubt Franco Luambo’s best-known hit, both in the Congo and internationally. But the T.P.O.K. Jazz adventure began in the 50s. At the head of his orchestra, Franco released a phenomenal number of records and had a lasting influence on African music. Mario’s fourteen minutes of Congolese rumba, based on a progression of a few chords that never really resolves into soukous, remains one of the monuments of the genre. With this track, Franco depicts the failings of a certain Kinshasa youth, the gigolo who lives off an older mistress. Two years later, he would write Mario’s Response, to reverse the points of view. For the record, the song was recorded in Gabon, under the supervision of Cameroonian Elvis Kemayo, giving Mario true Central African musical status. Master Franco died in Belgium in 1989, but his legacy lives on. In 2019, in his tribute to Franco Luambo, Ray Lema couldn’t fail to perform Mario, with his dazzling brass section.
Mario – Le Grand Maître Franco et son Tout Puissant O.K. Jazz, 1985
