Whats the reason that Nyoka Longa is the one that remained out of anyone else. He doesnt strike me as the most talented at the time when there was evoloko and papa wemba. What made it that he stood the test of time and became the face of Zaiko? Was he already somewhat the face of Zaiko back then? Is he musically inclided and knows how to play a few instruments? What is it about the guy.
He kind of remind me of Werrason. Not the most gifted as far as his voice but somehow ends up the face of a group, and then a whole movement.
On early records Nyoka Longo sang quite well, like in the song: le tout neige. His voice went strange by the end of the 90's.
Once in an interview he said he always tried to be loyal to the congolese musical culture. Maybe that's why he is still so famous, following a recipe that always worked.
And very likely he has pretty good connections, as I remember his wife was a daughter of Mobutu, so he had links that made it easier for him to navigate the band. But he did use this opportunity pretty well during the years I think. I appreciate more what he achieved with the band (not referring to the relations with the bandmates now) than the efforts of Awilo. Both guys are big men but for me Awilo is more a clown than a true leader.
Interestingly, Zaiko is the only big band left from the classic Zaire age bands. There are the two Wenge fractions as well, that is true, but you often hear people referring to them as: JB and Werrason. But you hardly hear people refer to Zaiko as "Nyoka Longo". Moreover besides the leader Zaiko has some old permanent members like Doudou Adoula.
I was more in Clan Wengé, Nouvelle Ecriture and Quartier Latin. I started to find Zaiko’s music to old, not innovating and music of “ba tata mibimba” like my friends. Baza ko rond point kaka hahahaha.
I forgot to mention, I liked also Cele Mbonda’s song and the sebene of Monica Bussiness Women (because of papy cocaïne), the rest of Poison was for me muehh.
I think the reason that you did not find it interesting is because they have not made their studio albums for a long time similar to the Live Versions. Many of the records released since 1999 is better live than on the album. In the studio versions, the sebene melodies are shortened, they are like "trailers" of the live show. Their recent record: Bande Annoance is a step forward in this sense, because they made it very similar to how they play it on stage.
This is why most of their old albums is better to listen to, because it is very much like the stage experience.
It is interesting that I meet Congolese people frequently, but all of them are from Bas-Congo or Bandundu. Never met anyone from other places like Boende, Lumumbasi or Mbandaka.
I think Nippon Banzai is not a very good album. It is a quite poor summary of their work which had much more interesting highlights. They recorded way much better live sessions than that, never understood why Nippon Banzai was pushed more than those.
If you are a beginner, you should start with:
Piéces a Conviction, Zaiko Dansez Othule, Subissez Les Consequences, Nous Y Sommes, Live Maquis GB (Les trois glorieuses) and the album titled: Zaiko Familia Dei
These albums are full of great sebens and have a very good sound.
He is not a very famous soloist, but has a unique technique to play the seben, so whenever he is on stage it is easy to recognise him. This technique is like when someone would be playing solo with strumming.
Don't forget about the "pope" of soukous: Dr. Sakis, who is a Brazza musician, along with his mate: Dany Engobo, who were already well established artists by the beginning of the 90's:
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