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King Kester Emeneya
Congo Kinshasa Roundup
Written by Martin Sinnock
Photography by Martin
Sinnock |
| People still
keep asking me who is the best Congolese performer and who is my favourite
singer or group. It is difficult for me to answer either question because I
have so many personal favourites and I have had the great fortune to have
seen most of the top Congolese groups perform either whilst at their best or
at least near to it during the last quarter century. Based on my regular
column in The Beat, other articles that I have written and radio broadcasts,
many people assume that Zaïko Langa Langa is my all-time favourite. It is
true that I am a "Zaïko fanatic" and I will always have an allegiance to
this group and its offshoots. Likewise Papa Wemba and his Paris Viva la Musica group and Kinshasa
Nouvelle Ecrita lineup. In fact the new team of
Nouvelle Ecrita singers, musicians and Fioti-Fioti dancers are the most
exciting thing I have seen in recent years. Grand-Père Bozi Boziana: I love
his music and his character, even though he is sometimes professionally so
laid-back that he is almost horizontal. Defao: incredible voice, best dancer
in the Congo, lovely guy – but career-wise – a disaster waiting to happen.
Then there is Koffi Olomide, various
Wenge outfits and also the female
singers like Mbilia Bel, Mpongo Love
and the stunning Deesse Mukangi for
whom I have a particular passion. Of course I could talk about my favourites
from previous generations: Vieux Tabu Ley Rochereau, the late
Franco etc.
etc. All of these musicians have produced my favourite music of all time and
most of them have deserved, at some time, to be called "the best/greatest
Congolese performer". |
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King Kester
Emeneya live a L'Olympia |
| I can now
disclose that my personal favourite male singer is The King, Kester Emeneya.
Everything about the musical career, personal history and character of
Jean Mubiala "King" Kester Emeneya indicates that he is an under-dog who has
succeeded against great adversity. His first flush of success in Papa
Wemba’s Viva la Musica at the end of the seventies escalated when Wemba
departed for Europe leaving Emeneya to virtually take over the band in his
absence. Eventually he broke away with most of the key Viva musicians to
form Victoria Eleison. Emeneya and Victoria became the darlings of the youth
movement in Congolese music, but eventually he suffered various desertions
himself. He soon found himself alternating between the "cutting edge" of
experimentation and just on the periphery of a dangerous area of bland
commercial mediocrity. One of his high points "Nzinzi" caught him succeeding
with a diversion from a straight Congolese rhythm when he created a
high-tech keyboard funk that was closer to an Abidjan pop/disco/zouk feel
but with the added bonus of the gutsy stomp of South African mbaqanga. |
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Fila, Sedar &
Guejo |
Patty Heritier |
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Dance Repetition |
Dancers in
dressing room |
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Dancers in
dressing room |
Nadine |
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Emeneya relaxing
at the rehearsal |
Tshaku
Libondas |
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Vocals at
repetitions |
Nadine and Judith
at repetitions |
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Dancers |
Nene in dressing
room |
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Vocals |
Nadine at
repetitions |
| Emeneya
continued to release albums with mixed success. His virtual exile in Europe
throughout the nineties saw his career balanced between high and low points
with releases of conventionally styled good albums and some less successful
experiments. To the hard core of believers he remained "The King" and it was
always hoped that he would eventually return to the forefront of modern
Congolese music. His career took an amazing upturn in 1997 with the release
of the album Succes Fou,
an album that saw him back in top form.
Capitalising on this success, and on the changing political situation in The
Congo, he made a triumphant return to Kinshasa and rebuilt his group with a
youthful lineup that could match any of his musical rivals. The double cd
Mboka Mboka
saw the new-look Victoria Eleison Dream Team Dream Band
playing in an extended style of hard Congolese rumba-sebene. It was glorious
and Emeneya had suddenly become hot property once again. A short low-key
recording without his group, Never Again-Plus Jamais,
addressed the
Congo’s political change and partially satiated the fans while they awaited
the difficult follow up to the sensational Mboka Mboka. When
Longue Histoire
arrived, two cds again, it showed that Emeneya could
sustain his momentum for directing a young orchestre to ever increasing
heights of excellence and creativity. Again the songs are long, musically
stripped down and oozing passion and excitement. |
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| The King’s
popularity was still high as he prepared to bring his new young "Dream Team
Dream Band" to Europe for the first time in order to show the Congolese
ex-pat audience that the Victoria Eleison live performance could match the
glory of the discs. The wait had been seemingly interminable with both
Mboka Mboka
and Longue Histoire
lacking the benefit of a live
tour to reinforce their sales outside of The Congo. Eventually the resources
were put into place for the band to come to Europe and the performance for
October 2001 at the Paris Zenith was scheduled. It was then that the bad
luck hit Emeneya again. A close friend, confidante and long-term associate
persuaded most of the Victoria vocal team that the European tour was not
going to happen and that they should defect under his guidance in order to
keep on working as an independent unit. Left with a severely depleted band
and only one month before the show Emeneya frantically set about
re-structuring his orchestre. Some key musicians had remained but vocally he
more or less had to start from scratch. The news in Europe hit hard and for
a while it was thought that he had blown it. With great determination
Emeneya managed to present a show at The Zenith that should stand in history
as one of the best Congolese live performances ever presented. It is rare
that I urge people to buy specific videos of live shows because the
haphazard nature of filming and editing live events is frequently
unsatisfactory. In this particular case the sound quality, camera work and
editing match the stunning performance that the Victoria Eleison Dream Team
Dream Band presented. The group had somehow managed to put together a
spectacle that made it look like they had been performing together for
years. With six female dancers, several young male dancers and a well
choreographed set of vocalists the visual performance surpassed virtually
every dance presentation I have ever seen. Although Papa Wemba’s original
ten Fioti-Fioti girls remain the cutest, most talented and inventively
choreographed team it is the Victoria Zenith show,
King Kester Emeneya
Victoria Eleison au Zenith de Paris Vol. 1 (FPP no number), which
stands out in my mind as the best all round performance available on a video
cassette. |
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| Emeneya’s latest
cd is an audio version of part of the Zenith concert.
King Kester Emeneya
"Le Nkukuta" Victoria Eleison Dream Dream Band – Rendre a Cesar (AFM
Productions – no number, distribution Ngoyarto)
is another double cd,
his third two cd set, and faithfully recreates the wonderful performance of
the live show. I say "recreates" because it has actually been recorded live
in the studio. Emeneya has a crafty ability to reproduce a live atmosphere
in the studio by eliminating unnecessary re-mixing and studio doctoring.
Mboka Mboka, Longue Histoire and Rendre à Cesar all have this
natural and vibrant live energy that many clinical studio productions lack.
The sound quality of Rendre à Cesar may not be the most sophisticated
but what it lacks in engineering budget is more than adequately compensated
for in musical quality and atmosphere. For some listeners the slightly tacky
keyboard embellishment may be a little intrusive but I urge you to set aside
your pre-conceptions on the use of keyboard, accept it’s inclusion, and
actually grow to enjoy it in the way that I have managed to do. |
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Arc en Ciel |
Chef d'Orchestre |
Fikidi |
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Mulos Kanto |
Guejo |
Miyake at
Repetitions |
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| So just why is
Rendre à Cesar so good, and why is the Victoria Eleison live
performance so special, and why do I have the temerity to say that Emeneya
is the best contemporary male Congolese singer? Musically the group twist
and turn through rumba section into mid-rumba and then animated sebene in
much the same way as other Congolese groups, but they seem to do it with
more interesting melodies and sharper elements that hit nerve centres in
both the mind and body. Emeneya’s music sends tingles down the spine and
inspires the spirit. His voice, which is so pure, controlled and emotional,
is as fine as it has ever been and it has matured and developed a unique
tone since his early days with Viva la Musica. His choice of material is
always beyond reproach, be it re-treading his own classics like "Sango ya
Mabala Commission", newer gems like "Cigarette", or paying hommage to the
veteran living monument of Congolese music Tabu Ley Rochereau on "Moussa"
and "Assamba", all included on Rendre à Cesar. |
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| There is excellent
vocal support from Victoria’s singers, many of whom were brought in as
replacements for those who who had defected prior to the Zenith show. Guejo
Star is now the featured vocalist beside Emeneya, and his decision to remain
loyal to The King has clearly paid dividends. His lead on "Sango ya Mabala
Commission" equals the original from Petit Prince Bengali and throughout the
live show Guejo demonstrates that he is a great future talent. There are
other good singers who replaced the defectors, notably ex Nouvelle Ecriture
star Pompon Miyake, a personal favourite of mine, whose sympathetic lispy
voice fits in well in this ensemble. Two new animateurs, Mulos Kanto "Mavi
Gaye" (really!!) and Arc-en-Ciel, very quickly took on and adapted the
Victoria animations. Their presence, particularly during the dances "Kiwanzenza"
and "Tshaku Libondas" and the new dance "Tshalufu" launched specifically for
the Zenith concert, adds much to the dance ambiance. Fortunately for Emeneya
the larger part of the instrumental section of the band remained loyal.
Soloist Willy "But na Filet" Ebondaki is a solid and unpretentious player.
Augmenting the solos is the sole surviving guitarist from the pre-Succes
Fou lineup of the group. Auguy Lutula is a guitarist who can play many
different styles, but his work behind Emeneya is particularly worthy of
praise, as is that of accompanists Zozo Malaba, rhythm player Adé Lokela and
bassist Yves Tshum. |
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Willy |
Emeneya on stage
with dancers |
| Whilst it is the
music of Victoria Eleison which is the most important factor there is also
an element of spectacle that helps elevate this group in my estimation. For
several years Emeneya has been taking young kids off the street and helping
them to develop some kind of professional career in dance. Most modern
Congolese dance is initially created in the street and subsequently
developed in front of an orchestre. Dollar Mavinga is one of those talents
who has now become an integral part of the band. It is he who taught Emeneya
the current dance moves and his direction of the entire dance spectacle is
impressive. From the Matete quarter of Kinshasa Emeneya found two boys,
Pathy Libondas and Heritier Mfwamba, who created the Tshaku Libondas dance.
Evala and Francis Fikidi, both only 18 years of age have been in the group
for five years now and it is they who lead the Kiwanzenza spectacle. The
female dancers, led by Nadine "Zinadine Zidane" are also well rehearsed and
creatively choreographed. All of this spectacle is magnificently captured on
the aforementioned video. |
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| Following the
Zenith spectacle Emeneya and his group played several more European
concerts, including a date at the prestigious Paris Olympia in which he
duetted with his special guest and mentor Tabu Ley Rochereau. Whilst the
show was impressive there were some irregularities of sound quality
in the concert hall. Following the Olympia
performance the band then commenced recording their next project, a studio
album, which continues the momentum of what has now become
one of the most exciting and creative of the Congolese ensembles. |
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Emeneya presents
a bouquet of flowers to Tabu Ley Rochereau |
Tabu Ley and
Emeneya |
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Emeneya and Tabu
Ley |
Emeneya and
Tabu Ley |
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Tabu Ley and
Emeneya |
Tabu Ley
Rochereau |
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