Congo Vibes
Music => Congolese Music => Old School Music => Topic started by: MwanaMokili on February 06, 2017, 12:46
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One of the long-standing Zairean exports to East Africa is Samba Mapangala.
He was the bandleader as well as lead vocalist in a group known as Les Kinois that came to East Africa from the Kivu region of the DRC ( Then Known as Zaire). They made their way to Kenya through Uganda, where they picked the name of their style ( Kabalagala) and eventually landed in Nairobi.
Their first hit song on arrival was Malako :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzdXucxkwxA
Followed by Baboka :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1Ci5dVyYfk
Another notable hit was Safari :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmqTO2HUjIY
and Sunday :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8cpFQHoST0
Things became tough for recording artists during the eighties due to the decline of vinyl in favour of the Radio Cassete and piracy. Disco music also became more poular than live shows and so the the group fell on hard times.
In response, Samba formed another group while in Kenya known as Orchestre Virunga. This was made of some of the original members of the Les Kinois and other local Kenyan musicians. They focussed more on touring the international scene, playing in East Africa, Japan, and finally found their way to the USA.
Eventually Samba moved permanently to the States, where he is currently based.
Sample this hit called Ahmed Sabit from one of his last albums before his departure :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPQTAE7_41s
This was done in Kiswahili although it has seome Lingala in it.
This group clearly had some mean guitarists.
Of note was one Silu wa Bansilu Manichu and another called Bapius...
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Oh, very interesting story! I never wondered Orchestra Virunga has such an adventurous background. Very nice article, I will post it on the front page!
I also need to check these tracks one by one to be able to imagine the "world" of this artist. I never heard of him before, only the band names mentioned, it is good to know who was behind these!
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Very nice collection. I listened to them all. To me the last 2 was the most pleasing. The guitars and recordings are at high level, you can compare it to the contemporary productions in Kinshasa, especially Sunday. Didn't know this branch at all, thank you for the introduction! Would have been a pity to miss it.
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Mbote Bandeko! This posting about Samba Mapangala has touched me- the " Ahmed Sabit' song I last hear over 30 years ago has brough plenty of memory-.- THANK YOU SO MUCH!