Koffi Olomidé & Quartier Latin — L’Olympia, Paris, 1998

Live concert video of Koffi Olomidé and his Quartier Latin International orchestra at L’Olympia in Paris in August 1998. For more than two and a half hours, the Congolese rumba and soukous star unfolds a sprawling repertoire — « Parking ya ba baba », « Coucou », « Andrada », « Miss des Miss », « Magie », « Fouta Djallon », « Ultimatum », « Loi » — carried by a large vocal and instrumental ensemble. The film captures the peak of the « tcha tcho » style: layered backing vocals (Bouro Mpela, Modogo Abarambwa, Sam Tshintu), nimble soukous guitars (Felly Tyson, Popolipo), a driving rhythm section and dancers, all in the prestigious Paris venue. A towering figure of modern Congolese music, Koffi Olomidé asserts his flair for staging and long, dance-building crescendos. A valuable document for anyone interested in Kinshasa rumba and the spread of African music across Europe in the late 1990s. Full concert, world music, live at L’Olympia.