JUNGLE ZOMBIE 
A high-energy 6/8 number inspired by traditional western Congolese music, this song brings to mind the early morning journeys Siama and his family would take in the morning, walking through the bush to reach their farm. 
  
In the rural Congo of his youth, people didn't go to offices in the morning. They'd go out and get their food and water, cutting out the middle man. In Lingala, he and Dallas sing, "Bring me water. Bring me food". 

Siama (guitar and vocals), Greg Schutte (drums), Tony Axtell (bass), Brian Ziemniak (Steinway grand piano), Bobby J Marks (trumpet), Tim O'Keefe (percussion), Dallas Johnson (vocals) 
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MPEVO 
Mpevo literally translates to, "fresh air" in Lingala but the word conveys the phenomenon an ancestral spirit that chooses a human being to convey a message or feeling...sometimes through music. 
  
Siama (guitar and vocals), Nirmala Rajasekar (veena and vocals), Greg Schutte (drums), Tony Axtell (bass), Brian Ziemniak (Steinway grand piano), Bobby J Marks (trumpet), Tim O'Keefe (percussion) and Dallas Johnson (vocals). 
  
SISILI: This was Siama's 2nd composition and the first one to become a big hit. In Swahili, he wrote it for his girlfriend at the time. Moni Mambo recorded it and it quickly lit up the airwaves. When the song came out, Sisili's papa wasn't pleased to realize his daughter was dating a musician, not to mention being broadcast throughout East Africa! - so she sent people to pick her up and take her away from Siama. They never saw each other again. In this version, Siama invited pedal steel phenom Joe Savage to add a Nashville flavor that feels just right. 
  
Siama (guitar and vocals), Joe Savage (pedal steel), Greg Schutte (drums), Tony Axtell (bass), Brian Ziemniak (Steinway grand piano & B3), and Dallas Johnson (vocals) 
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KUEYA 
Another soukous tune in Swahili. Siama sings about stopping for a couple beers after work with his fellow musicians and when he reaches home, he discovers his woman is gone, hence on the chorus he sings, "Kueya, Kueya...". His neighbors feel bad for him and let him know that she's not true to him. In the end he decides he misses her, "I forgive you. Just come home!". As is often the case in soukous songs, he tells this story with a lot of drama and humor. He wrote it for Samba Mapangala back in the day. It hit the radio big time but because of attribution issues, it was quickly withdrawn from the stores and the airwaves. Siama's excited for his old friends and fans to hear it after decades of waiting. (Listen to Mombasa later in the album, which is the problematic love story revisted years later.) 
  
Siama (guitar and vocals), Zacc Harris (guitar), Greg Schutte (drums), Tony Axtell (bass), Brian Ziemniak (Steinway grand piano), Bobby J Marks (trumpet) and Dallas Johnson (vocals) 
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MAISHA MAZURI 
Siama wrote this song ("Beautiful Life" in Swahili) for a beloved friend, Krista, whose journey was cut too short by cancer. In those difficult months, she summoned her friends to laugh at youtube videos, eat delicious food, meditate and cuddle. Siama composed this song on the guitar as she rested and she began asking for it so he wrote the lyrics, "This beautiful life. Drink it up. No one knows what will come tomorrow but today is for us to live". Carnatic veena virtuoso Nirmala Rajasekar and vocals by JD Steel and Dallas Johnson carry the music into the stratosphere. 
  
Siama (guitar and vocals), Nirmala Rajasekar (veena and vocals), JD Steele (vocals), Greg Schutte (drums), Tony Axtell (bass), Brian Ziemniak (Steinway grand piano), and Dallas Johnson (vocals) 
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NDOMBOLO 
Ndombolo means "dance" in Kikongo and Lingala. He wrote it from memories about sitting around on a mat in the evenings back home. There was no electricity so the stars would shine bright overhead and they'd hear the crickets as they told stories and laughed with each other. Inevitably someone would start tapping out a rhythm, they'd all start singing and before you knew it, young and old would pop up to "ndombolo". This one is truly a vocalists' showcase! It begins with JD Steele's layered gospel arrangement with Dallas Johnson. Nirmala comes in singing scales from South India and Tenzin opens his pipes and takes us to the tops of the Himalayan mountains (as he learned while studying for 18 years at the Dali Lama Institute), all setting the stage for Siama to pop in with his chanting from Congo. 
  
Siama (guitar and vocals), Nirmala Rajasekar (veena and vocals), Tenzin Ngawang (vocals, dranyen and flute), JD Steele (vocals), Jacqueline Ultan (cello), Greg Schutte (drums), Tony Axtell (bass), Brian Ziemniak (Steinway grand piano), Bobby J Marks (trumpet), Tim O'Keefe (percussion), Dallas Johnson (vocals) 

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BOLINGO 
Bolingo means "love" in Lingala. In this fun soukous tune, Siama advises us to choose true love. 
  
Siama (guitar and vocals), Zac Harris (guitar), Bobby J Marks (trumpet) Greg Schutte (drums), Tony Axtell (bass), Brian Ziemniak (Steinway grand piano), and Dallas Johnson (vocals) 
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YOLANDA 
In this melancholy number, Siama sings to his very first love, "I don't know where you are. It's been so long. But I'm thinking of you right now and I'm calling out your name. Can you hear me?". 
  
Siama (guitar and vocals), Tenzin Ngawang (vocals and dranyen), Jacqueline Ultan (cell), Greg Schutte (drums), Tony Axtell (bass), Brian Ziemniak (Steinway grand piano), Tim O'Keefe (percussion), Dallas Johnson (vocals)
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YELE YELE 
Written in the style of traditional celebration music from western Congo, Siama and Dallas sing this one in Kikongo, both celebrating and also asking ancestors to bring the blessings we haven't gotten yet. 
  
Siama (guitar and vocals), Bobby J Marks (trumpet), Greg Schutte (drums), Tony Axtell (bass), Brian Ziemniak (Steinway grand piano), Tim O'Keefe (percussion), Dallas Johnson (vocals) 
  
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OYAYEYO 
Singing in Kikongo, Siama describes the pride but also sadness parents feel when their kids do well in school and leave to begin life elsewhere. The song begins under the adept hands of cellist Jacqueline Ultan who sets the stage for JD Steele and Dallas' layered vocal harmonies. Siama crafted Oyayeyo into an anthem, bringing most of the album's musicians together to celebrate a momentus occasion. 
  
Siama (guitar and vocals), Nirmala Rajasekar (veena and vocals), JD Steele (vocals), Jacqueline Ultan (cello), Bobby J Marks (trumpet), Greg Schutte (drums), Tony Axtell (bass), Brian Ziemniak (Steinway grand piano), Tim O'Keefe (percussion), Dallas Johnson (vocals)
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