But I didn't know it at that time.
So this experience at the funeral of Tabu Ley in 2013 leads you to these people, and that's where you get the idea to make this film?
Long story short, the idea of the film probably happened in two moments. The first moment was when I watched an American documentary film called
Playing for Change.
Yes. That's where musicians around the world collaborate together on covers of famous songs. Beautiful stuff.
Yes, made by Mark Johnson. I fell in love with that. I said, “Wow. The sound is amazing. How did he get that sound?” There were the microphones on camera. I loved it. I said, “One day if I could do something with that same energy, it would be amazing.” And while that film was still on my mind, I met Brazzos and Petit Pierre. Those were the first two Congolese rumba legends I met, before Kuka. And they told me about the African Jazz's trip to Brussels for the negotiations for the independence of Congo in January 1960. I had read a little bit about that in Gary Stewart's book.