BIOGRAPHY OF VICKY LONGOMBA

"Vicky" (Longomba Besange Lokuli, Victor)

Outstanding Congolese singer and band leader, Vicky was born in Kinshasa on December 13, 1932, and passed away in Kinshasa on March 12, 1988.

Vicky began his career in 1953 at the CEFA recording studio in colonial Léopoldville (now Kinshasa). Singing tenor, often in combination with other studio singers Roger Izeidi and François Engbondu as Les Trois Caballeros, Vicky recorded songs in the emerging Congolese rumba style. Among his early recordings were "Chérie Awa" (Darling Awa) and "Congo ya Sika" (New Congo).

As CEFA verged on bankruptcy in 1955, Vicky moved to the Loningisa studio. There, in 1956, he joined guitarist Franco and four other session musicians to form the band O.K. Jazz. Vicky and singer Edouard "Edo" Ganga, who joined the band in 1957, formed a duo that set the vocal standard for the O.K. Jazz "school" of Congolese rumba.

In 1960, Vicky and bandmate Brazzos joined Joseph Kabasele and members of O.K. Jazz's arch-rival African Jazz for performances and recordings in Brussels at the round table conference on Congolese independence from Belgium. Vicky contributed backing vocals on Kabasele's "Indépendance Cha Cha," one of the most famous Congolese songs of all time, and wrote several others, including "Vive Lumumba Patrice."

Vicky's departure for the round table conference ruptured his relations with O.K. Jazz. Upon his return home, he formed a new band called Négro Succès. With Vicky at the microphone and Léon "Bholen" Bombolo on lead guitar, the band was indeed a success. It continued to prosper even after Vicky departed some two years later and returned to O.K. Jazz. Back alongside Franco and Edo, Vicky contributed vocals to most of the group's hits, including the great "Ngai Marie Nzoto Ebeba" (I Marie whose body is wearing out), a story about a Kinshasa prostitute. He also wrote many of the band's songs, including several, like "Conseil d'Ami" (Friend's Advice), in a slow, bolero-flavored style that he seemed to prefer.

Vicky and Franco shared leadership of O.K. Jazz for nearly a decade until it became clear that one boss was enough. Vicky departed in 1971 to form a new band called Lovy du Zaire. Lovy boasted a number of young up-and-coming musicians, including future Quatre Etoiles guitarist Syran M'Benza. However, Vicky's deteriorating health brought an end to the band and his performing career in 1974. Surgeons removed what Vicky described as a "cystic tumor" from his head in 1974 and again in 1981. Diabetes nearly cost him a leg. He recovered sufficiently to assume the presidency of the musicians' union (UMUZA) in 1986, where he served until his death.

One of Congolese music's best-loved singers, Vicky left a legacy of dozens of compositions and hundreds of recordings. Together with Franco, he helped to build O.K. Jazz into one of the finest bands in Africa. His duets with Edo and Edo's successors defined the vocal side of the O.K. Jazz sound for more than two decades. As a measure of his contributions to Congolese culture, Vicky was honored by President Mobutu with induction into the National Order of the Leopard, which was the nation's highest award at the time.

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