DR NICO'S BROTHER WHO LIVED IN HIS SHADOW

January 23, 2025 - 05:00 AM

Although most gods are atheists in the sense that none admit they were created by anyone, at least Dr. Nico, the guitar god, boldly admitted that he was a creation of his elder brother Charles Mwamba, aka Dechaud, musically speaking.

It was Charles Mwamba who taught Nico how to arrange his fingers on the fretboard and strum an acoustic guitar, which he often carried home from their practice sessions with musicians signed at Opika, where the evolution of African Jazz began.

However, the student learned quickly and surpassed the teacher in stature. In matters of guitar, Nico wasn't just smarter than his brother; he was possibly more skillful and creative than every other guitarist to ever grace Congolese rumba.

In a strange twist of events, Dechaud henceforth lived in his younger brother's shadow. They both became members of African Jazz when the band began. They traveled to Paris for the independence fete in January 1960.

When the big bang happened at African Jazz in 1963, they both quit the band and created African Fiesta, together with Tabuley and others. At African Fiesta, the duo created a guitar formation that can only be compared to George Peter and Wilson Peter of Simba Wanyika, where one played solo while the other did rhythm.

Although Dr. Nico shared the leadership of the band with Tabuley, his elder brother Dechaud Mwamba remained in the background as the band's rhythm guitarist. When the band broke up again in 1966, after a three-year hiatus, Dechaud followed his brother to African Fiesta National.

When the band collapsed due to Nico's poor managerial capabilities, Dechaud did what his elder brother had been doing: moonlighting with several other bands. When Nico became excessively alcoholic, Dechaud also turned to the bottle.

An old African Jazz clip, which shows the duo dramatizing their guitar skills in concert while playing facing each other, sums up the depth of talent in the siblings. One could easily conclude that this family made more than its fair share of contribution to the development of the genre.

Apart from his guitar skills, which he plucked without a plectrum, Dechaud was also an astute composer with several great songs to his credit. The evergreen African Jazz Mokili Mobimba, mostly erroneously referred to as Mokili Mobimba, is his composition.

This song is so popular that it has become an unofficial anthem of live concerts by almost every Congolese band or any band that performs Congolese rumba. The song has an exciting rhythm that one cannot help but strive to master.

Being one of the pioneer rhythm guitarists, several of the most preferred patterns in rumba rhythms are actually his creations. This is captured by author Gary Stewart in the book Rumba on the River, which states that "Dechaud Mwamba established the foundation that is essential to date in Congolese music."

Dechaud Mwamba died in 1999, aged 64. Before his death, he had quit active music.


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