Dizzy Mandjeku and Odemba OK Jazz All Stars

Here comes the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of the most legendary Congolese rumba band of them all: the OK Jazz Band was founded in 1956 in what was then called “Belgian Congo“.

It was named after the jam-packed club in Kinshasa where it always performed. The mastermind was none other than François Luambo Makiadi aka Franco, the Godfather of Congolese rumba, which was called Lingala. OK Jazz, a musical creative center comprising up 50 musicians, rightly earned the title “Tout Puissant“ (which translates as “all-powerful”) in the 1960s. After numerous projects of his own, Dizzy Mandjeku also joined the all-powerfuls. TPOK Jazz perfected a style known as “Odemba“: hot guitar riffs and clearly more African-sounding drums, even more danceable – and put all other rival bands in the shade for decades. After Franco’s death, Mandjeka became band leader of the Brussels OK Jazz branch in 1993, in addition to his performances as a guitarist with Jimmy Cliff or Zap Mama. Shortly after the 50th anniversary of the founding of OK Jazz, he assembled his All Stars to conquer England: with a repertoire from the "Belle Epoque" of Congolese rumba and the voice of "Seigneur" Lokombe. And they brought their dancehalls to the boil. To be continued at WASSERMUSIK.

The originally scheduled concert by Les Mangalepa has unfortunately had to be cancelled. The band was unable to travel.

Traffic restrictions From 23 July, John-Foster-Dulles-Allee is closed to motorized traffic between Haus der Kulturen der Welt and Spreeweg. The Haus is still accessible to drivers coming from the direction of the Reichstag but parking is severely restricted. The 100 Bus route will be diverted to Straße des 17. Juni and there is a provisional bus stop “Haus der Kulturen der Welt”. More...