theworldmusicplanet | Kanda Bongo Man The Best Of King Of Kwassa Kwassa - 'J.T.' Congolese Soukous @theworldmusicplanet | Uploaded December 2015 | Updated October 2024, 1 week ago.
Track 5 'J.T' from the CD Kanda Bongo Man The Best Of King of Kwassa Kwassa, a two CD set released by the Demon Music Group, 2011.
These tracks were recorded during the golden age of Parisian soukous and Kanda's voice soars above the two lead guitarists in a twinning that gives his music a wonderful, joyous, ringing quality. Say 'soukous' and the name Kanda Bongo Man follows as surely as night follows day.
Kwassa Kwassa is a dance style begun in Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) in the 1980s, popularized by Kanda Bongo Man. He was born in 1955 in Inongo in the Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of Congo and formerly called Zaire) of the Bandundu people and left school at the age of 18 to join a local Kinshasa band, playing the hot rhumba sound of the time. He quickly moved on to play with the Orchestre Bella Mambo in 1976. Seeking a wider audience, Kanda moved to Paris in 1979, where he first worked in a window-pane factory. His big breakthrough came in 1981 with the release of Iyole which he recorded with Orchestre Bella Bella, with Diblo Dibala on lead guitar.
In 1983 Kanda played WOMAD in the UK and his international reputation was born.
Track 5 'J.T' from the CD Kanda Bongo Man The Best Of King of Kwassa Kwassa, a two CD set released by the Demon Music Group, 2011.
These tracks were recorded during the golden age of Parisian soukous and Kanda's voice soars above the two lead guitarists in a twinning that gives his music a wonderful, joyous, ringing quality. Say 'soukous' and the name Kanda Bongo Man follows as surely as night follows day.
Kwassa Kwassa is a dance style begun in Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) in the 1980s, popularized by Kanda Bongo Man. He was born in 1955 in Inongo in the Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of Congo and formerly called Zaire) of the Bandundu people and left school at the age of 18 to join a local Kinshasa band, playing the hot rhumba sound of the time. He quickly moved on to play with the Orchestre Bella Mambo in 1976. Seeking a wider audience, Kanda moved to Paris in 1979, where he first worked in a window-pane factory. His big breakthrough came in 1981 with the release of Iyole which he recorded with Orchestre Bella Bella, with Diblo Dibala on lead guitar.
In 1983 Kanda played WOMAD in the UK and his international reputation was born.
