Pascal Lokua Kanza was born April, 1958 in
Bukavu in the province of Sud-Kivu,
in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the oldest of eight
children. In 1964, the family went to live in Kinshasa in a middle class area. After his
father died while captaining a ship at sea, his mother then moved to
a much poorer area of the city. Pascal had to feed the family &
help provide for them by taking part-time jobs while he was still in school.
Setting aside a few hours each day to teach himself guitar, he soon began
playing with friends in local bands.
As he got older, his approach to music grew more serious.
After studying at the Kinshasa Music Conservatory & performing with Abeti
in D.R.of C., Kanza moved to the Ivory
Coast for a fresh start. For three years, he
played guitar & handled vocal duties for a handful of African bar bands.
After being accepted to Paris' prestigious CIM, Pascal moved there to
study jazz & was given the opportunity to perform with many of his role
models. Working with Franky Vincent, La Mafia, Ray Lema, & Papa Wemba, he
continued to carve out his own style. In 1991, he joined the Soul Makossa Gang
after adopting his middle name as his performance moniker.
1992 saw Lokua debut his own material, first in a
performance with Angélique Kidjo & later on his first self-titled solo
offering. This caught the ear of Youssou N'Dour, who invited Lokua to sing on Womat.
In 1994, he reunited with Papa Wemba at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios to
lend his talents on Emotion. In December 1994 he was awarded Best
African Album for his solo debut. In 1995 Kanza released his second effort, Wapi
Yo.
Lokua Kanza sings in French, Swahili, Lingala, Portuguese,
& English.
Lokua Kanza – Wapi Yo, We Yo Music, 1995.
decryption code in comments
Tracklist –
Mungu
Yoka
Shadow Dancer
Wapi Yo
Ping Pongo
Sallé
Just to Say I Love You
Liteya
C’est Ma Terre
Anata O
Molili
Kumba Ngaï
Réunion
Life
bonus track –
Oh, Shadow Dancer (Version Francaise)
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Sam Mangwana was born July 18th, 1945 in Kinshasa, Congo.
A protégé of Tabu Ley (aka Rochereau) & Franco, vocalist/composer Mangwana
is one of Zaïre’s
least conventional stars. He is known as Le Pigeon Voyageur, the traveling
pigeon. He is a musician who constantly travels, side-stepping the usual
stereotypes. He has no regular band, he doesn’t own fancy cars or palatial
homes or designer clothes. He places no value on any of that. When in Zaïre he
couch surfs with his friends.
He started his career with a five-year stint with
Rochereau’s Africa Fiesta, before leaving for L’Orchestre Maquisards. In 1969,
after several hits, including ‘Zelangaina Sala’, the band folded. Mangwana
formed Vox Afrique with Dalienst. He then went solo while also working as musical
director & arranger for Rochereau, even standing in for him during his
absences abroad & recording the harmony parts for him in the studio.
His career has provoked controversy & violence. In 1972,
he changed camps & moved to Franco’s OK Jazz. The switch caused
unprecedented uproar. Rochereau & Franco were considered to be polar
opposites. They each had their own individual styles & their own fans in
opposing camps. The change was viewed by many as musical treason. Mangwana received
threatening letters, & was forced to hide in a hotel guarded by gendarmes.
Finally the furor proved too much for him. In 1976, he moved to Cote D’lvoire.
There he formed a band called Amida, with the intention of modernizing Zaïrean
music.
When Amida fell apart, Mangwana formed the African All
Stars, with guitarist Syran Mbenza & a large fluctuating membership that
included, at various times: Nyboma; Lokassa Ya Mbongo; Syran Mbenza; &
Bopol (some of whom would later form Les Quatre Étoiles). This band created a
hugely influential new style. Rather than stick to the old Zaïrean
rumba, African All Stars blended it with highlife, Afrobeat, & above all,
biguine, to create a formidable Afro-Antilles crossover.
In Zaïre, when "Georgette Eckins" grabbed the country by the ear, Mangwana
& his band were heralded as major stars & creative stylists. After this
came a string of hits, each mixing Zaïrean guitars with a solid beat & a
singing style from the sweetest of tenors to the most swaggering of middle
registers that was to become Mangwana’s hallmark.
In 1979, Mangwana recorded the album Maria Tebbo which
mixed the tenderness of the title track with the political exultation of "Chimurenga
Zimbabwe", a song in
celebration of Zimbabwe’s
new-found independence. In 1982, Mangwana traveled to southern Africa to throw himself further into the great political
struggles of the region. That same year he released Co-Operation with
Franco, & joined him onstage at a concert in Kinshasa. Politically, Mangwana has shown
himself as a strong champion of African liberation, through albums such as
1983’s Canta Moçambique (Vamos Para o Campo), which he recorded as a tribute & an
encouragement to the revolution that had ousted the Portuguese in favor of a
new, independent Mozambique.
I am including both the two song Abidjan-recorded rumba set Consommez
Local, & the two song Canta Moçambique
(Vamos Para o Campo)
recorded at Radio Mozambique Maputo. All four songs appeared on a 1989
re-release called simply Canta Moçambique.
I have posted the two separately because of their differing styles that don’t
really seem to go together, other than both being Sam. The first two songs are
fine rumbas built for dancing, while the second two are the pointedly political
homages to the anti-colonial struggle in Moçambique, sung in Portuguese with a
completely different musical character.
Sam Mangwana – Consommez local EP, Badmos International
Records, 1982.
decryption code in comments
Side A –
Liwa Ya Nickesse
Side B –
Faute Ya Commercant
Sam Mangwana – Canta Moçambique(Vamos para o Campo) EP, System Art Music SAM 004, 1983.
decryption code in comments
Side A –
Vamos Para o campo
Side B –
Moçambique Oyé
Enjoy,
NØ
Sam Mangwana (Consommez local EP) - only Side B is included
ReplyDeleteSam Mangwana – Canta Moçambique(Vamos para o Campo) - Windows said the file was invalid or corrupted but 7-Zip was able to extract them and a quick check seems to play correctly all the way through.
I fixed Consummez local.
DeleteWindows would not open Canta Moçambique because of the ç character. Change to c and it works fine.
ReplyDeleteI changed the ç to z to make it easier for everyone.
DeleteWapi Yo
ReplyDeletecjvYGkwACUi5VVUviNdzPCdvVwJTPvWr__O18MtIG90
Consommez local
QpKjmEDC0KPMuu-zRdEmEC5OgvNfn3etuEVvDQX114k
Canta Moçambique
CwuRVT0skCk7SzP7N7oKXDHw-fck7aiwcAQ4wVnOUDY
Thank you for fixing the issues with these files. I've had problems unzipping alternate character sets before but I usually recognize the problem immediately because the file name is in Cyrillic. It was not as obvious to me this time.
ReplyDeleteYeah, my bad. I try to keep the posts accurate, then include characters that WinRAR & others can't read. I have had the same problems myself in the past trying to open things & should know better. Thanks again for your vigilance.
Delete