NPR

Before The Rumble In The Jungle, Music Rang Out At Zaire 74

Trumpeter Hugh Masekela and producer Stewart Levine organized the 1974 festival and produced the new album Zaire 74: The African Artists, which captures performances by Miriam Makeba, Franco and more.
South African legend Miriam Makeba performing at Zaire 74. The performances of the African artists on the 1974 music festival's lineup have been unearthed for a new live album.

In the fall of 1974, George Foreman and Muhammad Ali met in the country of Zaire, now called the Democratic Republic of Congo, for the legendary boxing match known as "The Rumble in the Jungle." Although the Rumble had to be postponed until later that autumn, a related promotional event went on as scheduled and turned out to be similarly momentous: Zaire 74, a music festival where some of America's greatest black

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