Kanda Bongo Man-Non Stop Non Stop Compilation Vinyl LP Ace records 1985 ORB-005

$

27

A

NON STOP NON STOP

1. IYOLE

2. N'SAMBI-CAROL

3. IDA

KANDA BONGO MAN

B

NON STOP NON STOP

1. DJESSY

2. AMINA

3. MAZINA

KANDA BONGO MAN

Soukous is a fast, sweet, electric dance music from Zaire in Central Africa.

Literally it means' 'to shake. In practice it means Kanda Bongo Man.

For thirty years, Zaire has produced a stream of readymade pop, based on glittering guitars, sweet harmonies and irresistible rumba rhythms. The style began with the early acoustic guitarists such as Bosco and Wendo, followed through with the import of Cuban dance records, and went electric in the late fifties through the work of Le Grand Kalle and his Cuban influenced African Jazz.

In Zaire the music scene rarely stands still. A flurry of new talents appeared and with them two giants: Franco with his Tout Puissant O.K. Jazz and Seigneur Tabu Ley, with his band African Fiesta. New dances hit the clubs: from rumba to boucher, Dr Nico's kiri kiri, and by the late sixties, Tabu Ley's high speed soukous. Youth bands, playing harder rhythms and wilder guitars sprang up, starting with Bavon Marie-Marie and moving through to the late sixties rumba rude-boys, Zaiko Langa Langa.

Kanda Bongo Man began in 1973 when he joined Orchestre Mambo as a vocalist. Six years later he left Zaire for Paris and joined the large community of talented African musicians looking for good studios and a world breakthrough. Since then he has released three albums which mix sharp pop melodies with the sweetness and lilt of the best Zairean music.

Some African bands hit the headlines for the size of their combos - bus-loads of guitarists, dancers, percussionists and hom players.

Bongo Man prefers a slimline approach. His live band includes two of Paris's hottest African talents:

Ringo Star on rhythm and Diblo whose high-energy lead lines ranks him amongst the great guitarists of soukous.

British Afro-philes have already seen Bongo Man live - at two WOMAD festivals and various London gigs.

On each occasion the energy of the man, his sharp choreography and vocal strength, plus the beat-group intensity of his band left the audiences first dancing, then reeling, then shouting for more. "Feel the Kanda Heat" wrote one critic. "Expresso Bongo Man", another.

Get behind the headlines and discover Kanda Bongo Man for yourself.

VOCALS: KANDA BONGO MAN / SOLO GUITAR: DIBLO

MI SOLO GUITAR: AIME KOBO

RHYTHM GUITAR: MIGUEL BASS: NARGISSE // DRUMS & PERCUSSION: DOMINGO SALSERO

INTERNATIONAL PRODUCER DAVID QUATIARA