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BIOGRAPHY OF THE "FATHER OF CONGOLESE MUSIC"

December 10, 2025 - 08:43 PM Kabasele, Joseph "Le Grand Kalle" (Kabasele Tshamala), celebrated Congolese singer and band leader; born Matadi, Congo-Kinshasa, Dec. 16, 1930; died Kinshasa, Feb. 11, 1983.Kabasele was born to a prominent Congolese family that included Joseph Malula, who rose to become a cardinal in the Catholic church. As one of the period's better-educated Congolese—he completed secondary school—Kabasele gained employment as a typist at a succession of commercial firms in colonial Léopoldville (Kinshasa). Music was his true calling, however, and he found an opportunity to pursue it around 1950 at a new...

A MELODIOUS VOICE THAT TALKS TO THE HEART

December 09, 2025 - 03:54 AM Nyboma Mwandido was the star musician at the center of several musical galaxies. Bella Bella, Lipua Lipua, and Les Kamale were household names in the entire 1970s, and he was the central pillar and the star attraction of these bands. With the shockwaves of the pacy cavacha reverberating across the DRC and the whole of Africa, Nyboma became the much-sought-after voice, especially after being crowned Congolese Singer of the Year in 1974, following the success of his song "Kamale." Kamale is a Malian word that means "best friend," according to Nyboma. In an online debate on who was the all-time greatest singer, Nyboma's name featured prominently alongside the names of other singing......

SAMBA MAPANGALA: FROM CONGO TO THE WORLD

September 25, 2025 - 08:48 PM "Samba is easily the greatest of all Congolese musicians ever to set base in Nairobi," opines Jacob Owiyo, a football coach and music fan from Nairobi. He goes ahead to expound on the factors that make him come to that conclusion, beginning with Samba’s natural singing voice. Apart from being a vocalist, Jacob, who first met Samba in Mombasa in 1977, says Samba mostly composed songs themed on subjects that resonated with society, making his songs everyone’s favourite. That’s not all. He explains that Samba did several of his songs in Kiswahili, and this endeared him to Kenyans more than other musicians who mostly sang in Lingala, because the language created a barrier.......

THE VOICE THAT BRIDGED ODEMBA AND SOUKOUS

August 11, 2025 - 08:33 AM It is truly strange how rumba fans shy away from admitting that Madilu Systeme's 1993 album, Sans Commentaire, is one of the greatest musical albums to ever grace the world of music. It's really weird. The composition, the arrangement, the instrumentation, the singing—everything is so on point. The transition from the 1980s TPOK's Madilu into the 1990s soukous Madilu is one of the most remarkable transitions in music. Just listen to “Autoroute” from start to end. Back in my days in Chad, a guy we lived with in the camp said that nobody transitioned to the climax better than Madilu. Madilu is the only artist whose music speaks to your body, mind, and soul. These are the......

THE STRIKING SIMILARITIES BETWEEN BENGA AND RUMBA

June 17, 2025 - 03:20 PM Although each exists as a distinct genre, there are numerous striking similarities between the two. Kenyan Benga is a close relative of Congolese rumba, based on their shared ancestry and the striking similarities in the structural formation of the songs, especially in terms of instrumental arrangements. Both are modernized traditional music styles, performed with contemporary instrumentation and recorded in modern studios. Over time, as globalization became a reality, the music embraced foreign influences to evolve into what it is today. Many other genres have emerged in the last century under similar circumstances. A rumba musician, in the Congolese sense, can easily fit into a Benga......

SIMARO LUTUMBA'S ONE ON ONE INTERVIEW WITH BANNING EYRE

June 09, 2025 - 06:46 PM Interview Between Simaro Lutumba and Banning Eyre Venue: Simaro's House INTRODUCTION Simaro Lutumba was perhaps the greatest poet among the composers of Franco's great TPOK Jazz. He joined the band in 1961 and later became the band's long-term vice president. His melancholy 1974 hit "Mabele," sung by Sam Mangwana, was a landmark in OK Jazz's "authenticité" era releases and cemented Simaro's reputation as "Poet." In the late '70s, he was one of the musicians jailed at Makala prison during Franco's most serious run-in with the authorities, a clash over two songs deemed obscene. Simaro operated the band during Franco's long absences in Europe in the 1980s. This interview took place......

NDOMBE OPETUM: AN INCREDIBLE MUSICIAN

May 28, 2025 - 08:34 PM "Mokolo nakokufa, nayebi ndenge bakolela ngai" When Madilu System died, Ndombe Opetum gathered a few musicians present at the funeral to sing this line over his coffin moments before it was lowered into the grave. The line, which translates to "when I die, I know how they will mourn me," originates from a song titled "Nayebi Ndenge Bakolela" by Opetum himself and OKJ of Franco. That was in August 2007, and five years later, it was time to experience how the world would mourn Ndombe Opetum himself. He died on May 24, 2012. It has been 12 years since this star musician from the DRC, the country of musical gods, died in a Kinshasa hospital. Opetum, also called Pepe Ndombe, is easily one of......

SAAK SAKOUL OF THE MERCURIAL TRIO MADJESI

April 26, 2025 - 04:15 PM Congolese singer Bonghat Tshekebu, popularly known as Saak Saakul or Sinatra, formerly of Orchestre Sosoliso, died three years ago today.The musician passed away on the morning of Sunday, March 19, in a hospital in Paris, where he had been admitted. The then 80-year-old had been ailing for some time. Saak Saakul was a singer and composer with Orchestre Veve, led by the late Verckys Kiamuangana, a band he joined in 1969. He was the first of the three vocalists of the band, known collectively as Trio Madjesi—comprising Mario Matadidi, aka Mabele, originally from Angola, and Loko Masengo, aka Djeskain, originally from the Republic of Congo—to join the group.Alongside Bebe, the duo......

MUSA JUMA: THE LUNNA KIDI PROTEGE WITH A FANATIC FOLLOWING

March 18, 2025 - 05:20 PM One evening in October 1992, LUNNA Kidi was invited to perform at the funeral of Zackayo Adero in Ramba. Zackayo Adero was a prominent businessman and a great friend of Kabaselle. At that time, the manager of the band was Ogola Oyier, a physics teacher at Otieno Oyoo Secondary School. A few minutes into the performance, one of the major amplifiers blew out. It was already too late to travel to Kisumu, more than 50 kilometers away, to buy a replacement. Even in Bondo, the shops had already closed. What were the options? Someone suggested sending an emissary to borrow an amplifier from any of the bands performing in Bondo. It was estimated that, given Kale’s status, any of the......

THE MAGICAL VOICE OF JOSKY

February 13, 2025 - 03:27 PM The city streets are filled with the fragrance of fresh roses because all spaces adjacent to the busy streets have been converted into makeshift flower shops. Hotels are advertising special offers for couples, and gift shops are abuzz with activities, all because love is in the air, and soon it will be Valentine's. February 14 is marked globally as a day of lovers. Although this tradition, with roots in the ancient Roman Empire, hadn't gained much traction in Africa until recently, it is now observed even in remote villages, where it is not strange to find the local grocer selling plastic roses. On Valentine's Day of 1949, a major development happened in the port city of Matadi, when......

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