Thanks guys all who contributed. I managed to raise 40£ for Shabere, not much, but other people were doing fundraising in London, too, and finally the sum collected reached the level that is enough to give this guy a burial he deserves.
I don't even know which records he contributed to, I only know his work from 2014 up to now. Usually he only played live in Renato's band, on the main albums there were others playing the solo, but originally he was the creator of several tunes that the band played, and on singles he played too, sometimes solo, sometimes bass. He was a good bassist as well. I will really miss him, because as I mentioned, he was very authentic in approach to the guitar. I planned to record some demos with him to be able to use them for later songs, and that way I could have a lot of those pure Congolese tunes. Unfortunately, this chance is now gone, however we are working on an album with Renato, that has maybe the best tunes Shabere ever created. So at least those tunes remained as a heritage, and I am really glad we recorded those, because I am sure it will inspire future players. Though it is uncertain when we can release that album, but I am doing my best to finish that project in the near future.
Shabere, whom you may not know very well, was the guitarist of Renato Mondele and his band: African Ngwasuma in London. Though I don't know too much about his background in Congo, but being the manager of the band, I knew him well, and I can tell he was a very talented guy. What I really liked about him was that he was so authentic. His art represented something that was true Congolese. Though he is gone, his music remains with us, and I am glad that on the forthcoming album of the band, some very nice pieces of his creativity will be heard. I also managed to capture him on camera at his home 2 years ago, where he showed some guitar tricks, that I will upload in the future sometimes, and that will be really helpful to others.
Sadly, in spite of being creative, his life was not easy, and unfortunately he did not leave anything after himself, property or money. Actually he was in hospital in the recent year. At the moment, we are raising funds to be able to bury him.
I would appreciate if you could support our mission, and make a donation. I am planning to raise 1000-2000 GBP for the purpose. if you could help in that, it would be great. Any amount would help, even if it's just a few pounds or dollar.
You can send money to my bank account as well. I have different currency accounts for EUR, USD, GBP and other currecies, request details from me in a private message. Maybe we I have an account in your country, and that way it means less fees for you.
Alternatively you can your donation by Western Union to me, request for my details in a private message, too.
I will report the level of the donated sum here every day in a comment. The donated cash will be given to Renato who is dealing with the process of the burial. We will make some photos of the burial as well so you can see we could make it happen.
You can donate in person as well at Maestro Bar if you live in London, see the details on this flyer below:
Finally, some videos with Shabere:
He is the guy singing Shabacika in the beginning and then playing on stage:
What surprises me even more is how many people stayed alive. Hearing about HIV infection rates in Congo and Africa, it is kind of unbelieveable that so many musicians did not die.
I can tell you what you need to do to make Congolese Music famous. You need to do exactly what Nyoka Longo is doing: remain loyal to the style, go to do concerts in abroad as well, be proud of the history of the band. And do good albums. The problem in Europe is that when Congolese musicians emigrate there, they see how things go there, the freedom and democracy, they get mezmerized and think they can become famous and rich alone, everybody wants to be their own boss, but finally, they get to nowhere.
Unfortunately, I feel like most music coming out of Kin that is considered ''popular'' resembles more of modern African music (Afro-house, Afro Beat etc.) It seems as though the newer artists are trying to branch out. But sometimes feeding the soul with good rhumba & sebene is missing.
30 years ago Africa was listening to Congo. Today, Congo is listening to Africa.
Try Guy Guy Fall: Cote Quest. It is an older album from him from the end of the 90's, not very often mentioned, but a very good one. You can find various songs of it uploaded to Youtube and other places.
The idea is good but please don't call the channel Congovibes. It would be better if you would run it on your own channel name or title. Moreover I have already reserved the channel name: Congovibes for the forum. But if you create your own channel for it, I can place it's link and video preview in a block permanently on the frontpage, so people who visit the forum would see it, and could follow it.
To call it Congovibes, the forum staff should be included in the project or make the initiative to launch it, but we (the staff) has no time to participate in it at the moment. It would be nince to turn Congovibes into something more than a forum, that would include projects outside of the spectrum of the forum, but that would take time to coordinate anything like it, and we should adhere to more laws, that means any mistake would risk the forum.
But your idea is good and I am looking forward to the videos!
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