now thats surprising since it was flamme who was closer to tata

It might’ve been interesting if Maison Mere disbanded at the time and half the band went with Tata and half stayed with Werra. It would’ve taken the clan wenge polemique to another level.

now thats surprising since it was flamme who was closer to tata

Why did Tata stated with Werra instead of go and create straight away his own group? Couldn't he see that Werra was about to do those leadership role fames to influence the young guys there to be in favour of him?

If Adolphe started his own band straight away, he would dissapear like Kofi Alibaba. Adolphe himself wanted to join Wenge BCBG but Makaba didn't want him. At the same time, when Wenge 4x4 split,  nobody believed in Wenge Maison Mère including the leaders (Masela, Werrason and Adolphe) themselves. Masela and Werrason did everything to lure Adolphe, by pointing him as president, in order to have some kind of balance in front of Blaise, JB and Makaba (in terms of leaders). But it was just Werrason who was taking most decisions and Adolphe being removed as president, after pressure of influent fans and donors, who said that he couldn't be president, while the war was about JB vs Werra. Adolphe then became financial director, but still hadn't control.

yeah and one thing which did not help adolphe when leaving to create tonya tonya,he invested a lot of money already via donors in maison mere,and even some money ma guyguy was saving,it could be one of the reasons why like adricha says adolphe still holds grudge against werra for the sacrifices he made and werra benefiting alone when things started going well,and 10 times more when he fully became the only leader

yeah and one thing which did not help adolphe when leaving to create tonya tonya,he invested a lot of money already via donors in maison mere,and even some money ma guyguy was saving,it could be one of the reasons why like adricha says adolphe still holds grudge against werra for the sacrifices he made and werra benefiting alone when things started going well,and 10 times more when he fully became the only leader

But why not waiting and trying to influence the Donors to create his own group? And why not staying with JB? Because I remember that JB since the beginning he was extremely respectful not only of his co leaders but also of people with a lesser role like Chef D'Orchestre etc. For example Kibens, JDL, Rio must be getting money some leaders don't even dream of just as Chief roles same for RIP Seguin, while with Werra I think Kakol gets money yes but never directly he is either getting g them through bullying people under him and kuluna tactics with that said I think Adolphe was still in the wrong because tbh the only Congolese group I remember where the leader wanted everybody to shine was the Franco group, for the rest you could have worked for 10 years to a group togheter but the moment the other guy see an opening to complete leadership he will take it for Example, Fabregas amd Ibrator, RogaRoga and the many many Extra Musica Co Founders, Ramatoulaye, Espe Bass included, Werra and Adolphe, and so on.

If Adolphe started his own band straight away, he would dissapear like Kofi Alibaba. Adolphe himself wanted to join Wenge BCBG but Makaba didn't want him. At the same time, when Wenge 4x4 split,  nobody believed in Wenge Maison Mère including the leaders (Masela, Werrason and Adolphe) themselves. Masela and Werrason did everything to lure Adolphe, by pointing him as president, in order to have some kind of balance in front of Blaise, JB and Makaba (in terms of leaders). But it was just Werrason who was taking most decisions and Adolphe being removed as president, after pressure of influent fans and donors, who said that he couldn't be president, while the war was about JB vs Werra. Adolphe then became financial director, but still hadn't control.

Who is Kofi Alibaba? And tbh Wenge Tonya Tomya other than having good music had also some members like Lacoste and Diego who would later become Maison Mere members so why did Adolphe not replicate in the long run the sane success of Werra?

yeah and one thing which did not help adolphe when leaving to create tonya tonya,he invested a lot of money already via donors in maison mere,and even some money ma guyguy was saving,it could be one of the reasons why like adricha says adolphe still holds grudge against werra for the sacrifices he made and werra benefiting alone when things started going well,and 10 times more when he fully became the only leader

But why not waiting and trying to influence the Donors to create his own group? And why not staying with JB? Because I remember that JB since the beginning he was extremely respectful not only of his co leaders but also of people with a lesser role like Chef D'Orchestre etc. For example Kibens, JDL, Rio must be getting money some leaders don't even dream of just as Chief roles same for RIP Seguin, while with Werra I think Kakol gets money yes but never directly he is either getting g them through bullying people under him and kuluna tactics with that said I think Adolphe was still in the wrong because tbh the only Congolese group I remember where the leader wanted everybody to shine was the Franco group, for the rest you could have worked for 10 years to a group togheter but the moment the other guy see an opening to complete leadership he will take it for Example, Fabregas amd Ibrator, RogaRoga and the many many Extra Musica Co Founders, Ramatoulaye, Espe Bass included, Werra and Adolphe, and so on.

Adolphe was in conflict with JB when Wenge split, they were good friends until their last tour. Adolphe sided with Masela, Werrason and Christian Mwepu (who was mad not have to return the money he received to record a song for the Wenge album they were suposed to record), them forming "Ba Japonais". JB Mpiana and Blaise Bula forming "Bana Mindele" and them later being joined by Makaba. There were many confrontations and incidents, Adolphe often disrespecting JB in public or showing his clothes in front of him or JB ordering the musicians not performing the songs where he has vocals in, when performing in his neighboorhood, sending Calugi to disrespect Adolphe, etc. That's also the reason why JB was avoiding him, when Adolphe visited Blaise Bula either to join Wenge BCBG or ask them to reconcile and Alain Makaba saying a direct "No" towards Adolphe.

Even if Adolphe would influence donors, nobody would take him serious. Even the donors themselves wouldn't throw their money away in 1997 differently towards 2000, when he grew in popularity because of Maison Mère succes and his songs Mission Impossible & Papson. Only JB Mpiana and Werrason had the power to go solo in 1997, because they had some dimension in popularity that other bandmembers of Wenge 4x4 didn't have. When Wenge split, many just said Werra na JB bakabwani.

If Adolphe started his own band straight away, he would dissapear like Kofi Alibaba. Adolphe himself wanted to join Wenge BCBG but Makaba didn't want him. At the same time, when Wenge 4x4 split,  nobody believed in Wenge Maison Mère including the leaders (Masela, Werrason and Adolphe) themselves. Masela and Werrason did everything to lure Adolphe, by pointing him as president, in order to have some kind of balance in front of Blaise, JB and Makaba (in terms of leaders). But it was just Werrason who was taking most decisions and Adolphe being removed as president, after pressure of influent fans and donors, who said that he couldn't be president, while the war was about JB vs Werra. Adolphe then became financial director, but still hadn't control.

Who is Kofi Alibaba? And tbh Wenge Tonya Tomya other than having good music had also some members like Lacoste and Diego who would later become Maison Mere members so why did Adolphe not replicate in the long run the sane success of Werra?

Lacoste was first in Wenge Maison Mere before joining Wenge Tonya Tonya to rejoin Wenge Maison Mère again.

Adolphe didn't replicate the same succes as Werra, because their Europe-tour went wrong, many depatures taking place, them losing upon their return alot of credibility after their Olympia-tour, a war going on within their staff and journalists that were working for them (and big part deciding to return to Maison Mère or join other bands) and Lacoste's departure as well.

I had finally the time to watch the interview. Hearing Japonais calling Burkina Faso old (mukoooolo) and saying that he used to play with his older brother, made me wonder if he isn’t older than JB Mpiana and Werrason. I followed a few interviews of Burkina Faso, where he explained that he used to do first-part’s of Victoria Eleison in the 1980s and being coached by rhythm guitarist Tofla Kitoko, him being part of Malembe Chante’s Select Musica and him  joining Choc Stars in the late 1980s. So it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s of 1964 or 1965, because Japonais himself is from 1968

Not that I want to call Japonais a liar, but his version of the trip to South Africa is completely different from those given in interviews since 2004 by others such as Baby Ndombe, Jus d’Eté Mulopwe, Mimiche, Celeo, etc.. Most of them said that it was during that trip that the idea for Les Marquis started, not Tonya Tonya. Regarding the trip, I remember Adolphe Dominguez mentioning two or three times in interviews, right after he left Wenge Maison Mère, that Werrason had abandoned him in Europe and went to South Africa alone with Maison Mère for the Kora Awards and a series of shows. So how could he have tried to create Tonya Tonya there if he wasn’t even present? It was also from there the rumors of Maison Mère’s split started because Lacoste, Mabiala, Adjani and Burkina Faso also staying in Europe, being afraid about the trip to South Africa, being a trick to get them back to Kinshasa, since that their visa of Schengen was about to expire.




According to Baby Ndombe’s interview with Djo K (2004) and a few years later Marc Tabu (2007), it was also one of the reasons why the conflict of those who went to South Africa with Werrason started. Because Werrason  was  offered a contract to perform in Zimbabwe, while the visa for Schengen was about to expire within 3 or 4 days, when they were in South Africa  and them being afraid that the process to demand visa’s again for Europe wouldn’t work and/or them getting stuck in Africa, while they had left money, cars and gifts in Europe, which why Ferre asked for his passeport to Baby Ndombe to return back  and the remaining musicians doing the same thing. Already before that there was a conflict about Werrason being mad for the guys not showing up at a plack-show, him being on his own with Kakol and the dancers, since they had already accepted a contract of a play-back show with Extra Musica. This led to Werrason insulting them and especially Baby Ndombe (and his mothers) with people reporting it to the guys, which made them really mad already not happy about payments and talks about starting an own group “Les Marquis”.
Even before that, there were already been tensions in South Africa, after that Werrason got angry at the musicians for not showing up to a playback show, leaving him with only Kakol and the dancers. The others had accepted a separate contract for a playback show with Extra Musica. Werrason ended up insulting them, especially Baby Ndombe and even his mother, which was reported back to the group. This made them only angrier, as they were already frustrated about payment issues and had begun talking about starting their own group, Les Marquis. So was Japonais trying to impress the public and the journalist or did he confuse it with another African trips before Bercy? I wonder how Adolphe Dominguez is thinking about it.


Another thing is Solola Bien.  Was Japonais ashamed to admit that he didn’t play lead, but only mi-solo, bass, and rhythm? Or did he actually play lead, with Flamme taking over in the second part of the générique? It’s just that Flamme became a brother in Christ otherwise he might have responded to this claim. To be honest, I think the entire générique was played by Flamme. If Japonais had played it, he would likely perform it often in interviews, just like he does with Rapide, especially considering Solola Bien is Maison Mère’s most famous générique. Flamme himself said in an old interview that Solola Bien was the générique that finally earned him respect as a lead guitarist. I don’t believe that Werrason would have mentioned Flamme as “soliste de l’univers” if he hadn’t played Solola Bien. At FIKIN 2000, when Flamme, Japonais and Burkina Faso were presented. Flamme played a part of Solola Bien, while Japonais played Intervention Rapide and Ndombolo.

Wasn't it the case that Japonais created the partition and Flamme then played it in the studio?

I'am not sure if they are really Japonais' creation. But Japonnais indeed used to play the guitar partitions that are heard during the cri's Helicopter/Kisalu, Shofele and Ndekele in concerts after Force d'Intervention Rapide. Most lead guitarist often prefer to play partitions that are their own creation instead of playing the one of their rival.



from 1:08 min


from 1:49:32 min & 1:51:09 min



from 27:28 min




So my theory is that partitions from the start 4:55 min are Japonais' creation and the remaining ones of Flamme.