Kanda Bongo Man - Biography
By Nick Castro
Kanda Bongo Man is one of the most famous musicians to come from the burgeoning Zairean music scene of the 70's and 80's. He was born in 1955, in Inongo, in a country now known as The Democratic Republic of the Congo. His styles have spanned soukous, zouk and afropop and he has cultivated a following all over the world, but especially in the DRC and in France. Although his first professional gigs began when he was still a teen, he is still very active in the live music scene, over thirty five years later.
When Bongo Man was still young he began working with the group Orchestre Belle Mambo. The year was 1973 and Bongo Man, along with his brothers Soki Vangu and Soki Dianzenza, founders of the group in 1969. The band, later to change their name to Orchestra Bella Bella, was famous for featuring many well-known musicians like Pepe Kalle, the year before Bongo Man joined. Also later featured in the band was Diblo Dibala, whose name would become synonymous with Bongo Man's. This venture took the boys on tours throughout their home country, as well as in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. They had found themselves amongst the thriving new soukous scene, which was mixing the caribbean rhythms of rhumba with the sounds of their native country, along with groups like Orchestre Lipa-Lipwa and Orchestre African Music. They worked with the group for the better part of the 70's, before Bongo Man left for Paris to find a larger audience for his music. Many of their records have become nearly impossible to find in their original formats but luckily many fine collections and reissue are available through boutique world music labels, like Glenn Records.
At the end of the 70's, Bongo Man left his home for Paris. There he scouted around the city for musicians to for a new band with, all the while he was making his living in the expensive city by working at a windowpane factory. It was only a few short years, after his 1979 arrival, that Bongo Man had his first solo records released. Both have be issued on one disc called Non Stop Non Stop (1990 - Globestyle) and features not only guitarist Dibala, but compositions from Bongo Man such as the opener "Iyole", also the title of hist first album, and the song "Djessy", the name of his second. He was well received by music cirlce in France and had big hits with both of his first albums. He follow these up with the 80's album Amour Fou (1988 - Hannibal), which was a repackage of two record he had released in france and featured the standout track "J.T.". Bongo Man was considered innovative for his use of extended guitar solos, both in between verses as well as at the beginning of songs. This was against the norm in the genre.
In 1988 Bongo Man made the album Sai-Liza (1988 - Hannibal). One of the most famous moments of this album was its championing of the dance known as the kouassa-kouassa, along with artists like Pepe Kalle and Empire Bakuba. Bongo Man always made use of small and tight bands, unlike many of the groups of his time, and harkened back to the small combo days of Zaire. One this album Dibala is joined by the master guitarist Lokassa ya Mbongo as well as Pablo Lubadika on bass. Bongo man also makes good use of of backgroud vocalists as well as synthesizers, which have turned off many western fans of African music, but in Zaire and Paris, Bongo Man's popularity was just increasing with every new hit record he released. The thumping drum was conducive to dancing as was the high energy speed with which the songs were played.
It was in 1989 though that Bongo Man released the album that would fuel the next dance craze, Kwassa Kwassa (1989 - Hannibal) and the dance of the same name. The shining tracks on this album are "Saï" and "Liza". The former song having some of the finest harmonies Bongo Man and his band would regularly implement. "Liza" features guitar solos that hang high on the guitar neck, above the rest of the music. This was also the last album to feature Biblo on guitar. Bongo Man followed this with the albums Isambe-Monie (1990 - Melodie) and Zing Zong (1991 - Hannibal), which features guitarists Nene Tchakou and Dally Kimoko. Again, Bongo Man handles the compositional duties on the album and the album's opener and title track, "Zing Zong", which is a fast paced, minor key, romp, that makes great use of synthesizers as horn sections and digital delayed guitars. Other great tracks on the album are "Yonde Love Me" and "Yesu Christu". This is often considered to be Bongo Man's best album. It also the marks the year that both of Bongo Man's brothers passed away.
The 90's were a busy time for Bongo Man, as he toured widely and was recording constantly. Some if his early 90's records include Le Rendevou Des Stades (1990 - Melodie) and Sango (1992 - Melodie). The former album is one of the more relaxed efforts by Bongo Man, though it still has its share of dance numbers of course. Bongo Man also released a fine live album in 1993, called Soukous in Central Park (1993 - Hannibal).
Bongo Man's album Welcome to South Africa (1999 - Melodie), which finds Bongo Man trying to combine South African rhythms with soukous in a sometimes akward meeting. His album Sweet (1999 - Melodie) marks a departure from the format that made Bongo Man famous. Instead, he begins to incorporate a second singer, Faya Tess, as well as an extensive repertoire of synthesizers and drum machines. Many of his fans were disappointed by the change in style.
Bongo Man's newest work is the album Soukous Time (2008 - Das Alte Werk), which has been his first in year. It finds him going back to real instruments, for the most part, and the tried and true formula of his older records, but unfortunately, the sound quality is not great. Bongo Man has also performed at the Live 8: Africa concert, which also featured African artist like Angelique Kidjo and Tinariwen.
