Here, it's seems as if he's playing lead guitar as opposed to rhythm guitar here. Could you please explain the difference here? I'm really trying to see it. Thanks. This is pretty cool.
Sorry I have been busy...
Basically the rythm guitar is the backbone of the song, and
it defines the rythm. More importantly, instead of a metronome
it serves as the dynamic time keeper. On the rythm that it defines,
various melodies are layered by the other instruments, primarily
the solo guitars. But in fact the flexibility of this arrangement is
it frees all instruments and other musicians to range without
compromising the integrity of the song....For this reason, most
songs are composed to a melody of the rythm guitar.
Now what Zairian/Congolese musician then did was to practically
mute the rythm guitar to the listening audience, but not to themselves
since they were absolutely subordinate to it. They had to hear
it in their monitors in order keep within the song structure..
Vata Mombasa, a legendary rythm guitarist, composed this song
back in the 70s, and I suspect that he did it outside the auspices
of the band (Lipua Lipua), given the rather low quality of the
of the studio work. But in it, he gave a prominence to the rythm
guitar such that you can hear it throughout the song. You can
also hear how the solo guitar comes and goes, but always in
subordination to the rythm. Of course at the end, Vata gave
himself a rythm solo
This same song was reprised by the Soukous crowd in Paris
more than 10 years later, and look how they redid it. Nowhere
in it do you hear that ubiquitous rythm, as it was muted to us,
but not to the musicians. In this song, the soloist "8 Kilos (Huit Kilos)"
Bimwela Nseka sizzles with his dazzling solo riffs....Ironically
Lokassa ya Mbongo was the session rythm guitarist holding
together the song..You go figure..