Music, sex and politics: it’s an explosive cocktail, and just the stuff to feed the kind of controversy that Koffi Olomide is used to. Not only is he the target of anti-Kabila campaigners who apparently pirated his album Abracadabra by pre-empting its release, the Congolese star is also at the heart of a rape case currently appearing before the French courts. But did he really turn up for trial in the Paris suburbs last February as he claims to have done?

Ray Lema, the trailblazer of inventive music who’s lived in France since the early eighties, has just re-recorded thirteen of his tracks in Brazil with the Jazz Sinfônica de São Paulo led by João Mauricio Galindo. The result is a meticulous rereading of a rare and eminently plural work.

The Congolese singer Maryse Ngalula, who has just won the Institut Français’ Visas pour la Création programme, took advantage of a 5-month residency in the French capital thanks to sponsorship from the Archimusic association run by saxophonist Jean-Rémy Guédon. By the end of her stay, the artist had put together a seven-track demo that displays an array of talent, including an agile, transparent voice, some sharp lyrics and a very personal style that swings between jazz and Congolese tradition.

Congolese singer Samba Mapangala built up a solid reputation in East Africa before moving to the USA.