Groove Obscura presents: Pitch Black Album Listening

Announcing the October 2026 album for @groove___obscura's pitch black album listening series: Le Grand Maitre Franco Et Jolie Detta - S/T

The pitch black listening session will take place on Tuesday, October 20th at the Silence Please Listening Space in downtown Manhattan.

We are joined by two special guests this session. Virtuosic Congolese guitarist Yohni Loboko and Morgan Greenstreet (modrums) will open the night with some context and stay for a Q&A after the record ends.

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About the album:

By 1986 Franco had led O.K. Jazz for three decades and shaped the sound of Congolese rumba more than anyone alive, especially through his own odemba style. That year he brought in Jolie Detta, a teenage singer fresh from Tabu Ley's Afrisa. He put her voice at the front of the band and recorded four songs around her. The result is one of the great late statements of his career and the record that made Detta a star beyond Kinshasa.

All four songs follow a similar but engaging, pattern. Detta's warm, unhurried vocal carries the song while Franco answers her. Then the sebene opens up. This is the instrumental break where Congolese rumba turns into dance music, with the guitars locking into fast, cycling patterns. The horns join in and the whole band keeps building. - Arjun Shah

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Founded by Arjun Shah, Groove Obscura is an experiential platform dedicated to uncovering and contextualizing music from around the world. Groove Obscura takes physical form at the Silence Please Listening Space through communal album listening.

Each session explores original pressings of music from around the world, played front to back on a high-fidelity system, preceded by historical and musical context to set the stage for a deep, undisturbed listen. Sessions are often held in pitch black for pure sonic immersion.