Still Another Re-Up

I've been unable to find out much about Congo's Bobongo Stars, but their unique blend of funk, rock & roll, Soukous and Mutuashi made them stand out in the crowded '80s Kinshasa music scene. They had their own night club, made commercial jingles, played backup for the Angolan singer Diana, and achieved a measure of renown in Europe before fading from sight.

Some time ago I posted the Bobongo Stars album Makasi (Celluloid CEL 6627, 1983) over on Uchenna Ikonne's blog With Comb & Razor, and as it's since gone offline, I thought now was a propitious moment to make it available again.

The above photograph of the Bobongo Stars was taken by Chris Stapleton and appeared in his article "Kinshasa Diary: Zaïre," which was in the Summer 1986 issue of Africa Beat (London). Here are the songs from Makasi, and you can download them as a zipped file here:

Bobongo Stars - Mbati

Bobongo Stars - Joyce

Bobongo Stars - La Vie Ya Lelo

Bobongo Stars - Nazangi Yo

Bobongo Stars - Koteja

Bobongo Stars - Simba Moto

Mafilika

 

Malawian band Mafilika was formed by five friends with the noble ambition of wanting to preserve the traditional music of their country for future generations. The band got together in 2007, with each member bringing their own background, cultural ancestry and personal music tastes to the mix, leading to an eclectic blend that includes rocks, roots, jazz and reggae.

Lilongwe-based Mafilika will be making an appearance at vinspired Lake of Stars this October, but the band are no strangers to international audiences. They represented Malawi at the Music Crossroads InterRegional Festival in 2008, and although they didn’t win they made such an impression that audiences both in Malawi and across the world have started sitting up and taking notice. In 2009 the band completed a 17-date tour of the Netherlands and in the spring of this year, they returned to Europe after winning a competition led by the World Bank and Jeunesses Musicales International, where they performed in the Fairplay Youth Voices campaign against corruption. They beat 40 other bands from across the globe to take the title.

Sam Mkandawire, keyboardist and vocalist, said the band was "over the moon" with the win. "We promise to continue doing Malawi proud," he added.

Mafilika

 

Malawian band Mafilika was formed by five friends with the noble ambition of wanting to preserve the traditional music of their country for future generations. The band got together in 2007, with each member bringing their own background, cultural ancestry and personal music tastes to the mix, leading to an eclectic blend that includes rocks, roots, jazz and reggae.

Lilongwe-based Mafilika will be making an appearance at vinspired Lake of Stars this October, but the band are no strangers to international audiences. They represented Malawi at the Music Crossroads InterRegional Festival in 2008, and although they didn’t win they made such an impression that audiences both in Malawi and across the world have started sitting up and taking notice. In 2009 the band completed a 17-date tour of the Netherlands and in the spring of this year, they returned to Europe after winning a competition led by the World Bank and Jeunesses Musicales International, where they performed in the Fairplay Youth Voices campaign against corruption. They beat 40 other bands from across the globe to take the title.

Sam Mkandawire, keyboardist and vocalist, said the band was "over the moon" with the win. "We promise to continue doing Malawi proud," he added.

Aly Keita

Aly Keita Born in Ivory Coast into a family of musicians, Aly Keita makes his own balafons and plays them continually in order to excelalongside the very best. Now living in Germany, he has participated in a number of projects together with Omar Sosa, Rhoda Scott, H.Lüdemann, Cheick Tidiane Seck, Paco Séry, Karim Ziad, Trilok Gurtu & Jan Garbaret, Chander Sardjoe, L.Soubramania, Arto Touboyacyan, Etienne M'bappé, Linley Marthe, Mathew Garrison, Paulo Frésu, Joe Zawinul....With his impressive virtuosity, Aly develops spectacular and enchanting African polyphonies on his instrument with one thousand and one waves of his (two) magic hands.




http://www.myspace.com/alykeita
Supported by the French Cultural Centre, Blantyre

Aly Keita

Aly Keita Born in Ivory Coast into a family of musicians, Aly Keita makes his own balafons and plays them continually in order to excelalongside the very best. Now living in Germany, he has participated in a number of projects together with Omar Sosa, Rhoda Scott, H.Lüdemann, Cheick Tidiane Seck, Paco Séry, Karim Ziad, Trilok Gurtu & Jan Garbaret, Chander Sardjoe, L.Soubramania, Arto Touboyacyan, Etienne M'bappé, Linley Marthe, Mathew Garrison, Paulo Frésu, Joe Zawinul....With his impressive virtuosity, Aly develops spectacular and enchanting African polyphonies on his instrument with one thousand and one waves of his (two) magic hands.




http://www.myspace.com/alykeita
Supported by the French Cultural Centre, Blantyre

Peter Mawanga

Peter Mawanga one of Malawi’s home grown artists will be gracing the stage with his presence at this years festival. He has previously performed with the likes of Oliver Mtukudzi and Wambali Mkandawire. Peter’s music a fusion of Malawian instrumentation, jazz guitar, marimba rythms and singing in chichewa will bring a traditional yet soulfull vibe to this years festival.

Peter’s first fell in love with music at the age of 2 when he sang Amazing Grace in the middle of Harare airport (Zimbabwe) from then his uncle deemed him to be a great musician. He recorded his first album ‘Citylife’ in 2002 and released it under the name of ‘Peter Pine’ whilst studying engineering . His first single ‘Amakhala ku Blantyre’ touched upon the realities of urban vs rural living this was one of Peter’s most controversial singles as it created a series of response songs from other artists. He recorderd his second album in 2005 titles Zanga Zo Zama reverting back to his own name for this album this album which was a combination of traditional African rythms infused with modern instrumentation giving him world wide recognition.

In 2004 Peter started up Talents of the Malwian Child which involved mentoring and training orphaned and vulnerable children with a series of musical workshops. Resulting in Peter producing a series of albums with the children. He then formed his own band in 2007 Peter Mawanga and the Amaravi Movement.

Peter says ‘‘I love music that speaks to you before you even hear or understand the lyrics.’

Also check out Peter's Track which is the official track of Lake of Stars 2010

ku malawi by LakeofStars

For more info check out www.mawanga.com.

Peter Mawanga

Peter Mawanga one of Malawi’s home grown artists will be gracing the stage with his presence at this years festival. He has previously performed with the likes of Oliver Mtukudzi and Wambali Mkandawire. Peter’s music a fusion of Malawian instrumentation, jazz guitar, marimba rythms and singing in chichewa will bring a traditional yet soulfull vibe to this years festival.

Peter’s first fell in love with music at the age of 2 when he sang Amazing Grace in the middle of Harare airport (Zimbabwe) from then his uncle deemed him to be a great musician. He recorded his first album ‘Citylife’ in 2002 and released it under the name of ‘Peter Pine’ whilst studying engineering . His first single ‘Amakhala ku Blantyre’ touched upon the realities of urban vs rural living this was one of Peter’s most controversial singles as it created a series of response songs from other artists. He recorderd his second album in 2005 titles Zanga Zo Zama reverting back to his own name for this album this album which was a combination of traditional African rythms infused with modern instrumentation giving him world wide recognition.

In 2004 Peter started up Talents of the Malwian Child which involved mentoring and training orphaned and vulnerable children with a series of musical workshops. Resulting in Peter producing a series of albums with the children. He then formed his own band in 2007 Peter Mawanga and the Amaravi Movement.

Peter says ‘‘I love music that speaks to you before you even hear or understand the lyrics.’

Also check out Peter's Track which is the official track of Lake of Stars 2010

ku malawi by LakeofStars

For more info check out www.mawanga.com.