Kanda Bongo Man (the person) was actually born Bongo Kanda, in Inongo, Belgian Congo – now Democratic Republic of the Congo, in 1955 (blimey, he’s nearly as old as Lex and me!) and is perhaps the most famous of all soukous musicians. He actually became the singer for Orchestra Belle Mambo in 1973, but his solo career only took off in 1979 after he moved to Paris. I mentioned him in my blog of 3 December last year when I talked about African music as a whole, and raved about a former guitarist of his, the great Diblo Dibala, who is arguably the greatest guitarist of the soukous genre.
Kanda Bongo Man (the band) has always been superbly led by KBM himself, who has played guitar and been the vocalist. The previous approach was to have one guitar solo at the end of several verses of the song. He turned out to be revolutionary, by implementing guitar solos after every verse, and even the occasional guitar solo BEFORE the first verse. This gave birth to the Kwassa Kwassa dance rhythm – this is where the hips go back and forth, while the hands move to follow the hips, if that makes sense. I see it now, as a veteran lover of Kwassa Kwassa, but I concede I didn’t just a few short years ago. As I said, Kanda Bongo Man has been a leader of many musicians in his long career, most notably Diblo, who although a really vital cog in KBM’s well oiled machine, moved on to begin his own successful solo career. Kanda Bongo Man still tours both in Western Europe, Scandinavia and North America. Locally for Lex there was an appearance in 2005 at the ‘LIVE 8:Africa calling concert’ in Cornwall, and locally for me, KBM performed at the Shrewsbury Folk Festival in 2022.
Discography-wise, Kanda Bongo Man have made 20 albums, from ‘Iyole’ in 1981 to ‘Lekette Bue’ in 2022, and they have been recorded live on countless occasions, which e.g. You Tube & Spotify have for your delight on their channels. You will not be at all surprised when I say that in the Eighties, John Peel & Andy Kershaw championed the music of Kanda Bongo Man and were key figures in introducing what was then generalised as ‘World Music’ to the mainstream. KBM did 2 session for John’s Show, in 1993 and 2003. I remember at the Glastonbury Festival in 2003, John’s co-host Jo Whiley (who had a terrific respect for Peel), couldn’t understand why he had sloped off one day – the reason was quickly unearthed when the cameras panned in on him dancing away on the hill, enjoying Kanda Bongo Man’s live set.......amazing because the great man rarely danced!
To summarise, most people, including myself, find this type of music incredibly joyous. When you watch a soukous video the happiness leaps out at you and the skilled musicians all seem to be immensely enjoying themselves. I mentioned to you that I had ventured down on the New York Underground to Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, to seek out ‘Kwassa Kwassa’ CD’s. Nowadays that area of Lower Manhattan mainly houses night clubs, record shops and indie boutiques, but back in the day was known as true American Bohemia. At the risk of sounding repetitious, I could choose enough music here to occupy the whole of Lex’s show, but in choosing one song, I have decided that the live recording made for the Kora Awards in Sun City of ‘Bili’ is perfect for a Friday night (or any night). This features Kanda Bongo Man himself on vocals, and Faya Tess, who after her ‘Keba’ album was voted the best singer in Central Africa. The track can be found here.
24th August 2024
Titus writes: