DAR ES SALAAM, Nov. 13 -- I CONFESS I have a soft spot for a Saturday night in a muziki wa dansi hall. The nyama choma smoke, the bassist who has not slept since Independence, the MC greeting every uncle by name. I have loved it all for decades. When Werrason came to Dar es Salaam, he gave us a good night out.

He also left our musicians enough homework to keep them busy until Christmas. He came to sing and dance, not to mark exam papers. But first, a word about the teacher.

He was born Noël Ngiama Makanda on Christmas Day 1965 in Kikwit, then in Bandundu Province, which explains the Noël.

Fans call him Roi de la Forêt, King of the Forest, a title that grew out of Tarzan, the nickname he earned as a young man after winnin...