| KANDA BONGO MAN An Audience with the King of Soukous .... |
"Summer 2002 and one of the huge hits of WOMAD is a man in a signature hat, dancing non-stop to the sweetest electric dance music on the planet. With a wonderful front line of dancing singers, moving and grooving over a bed of twinkling finger -picked guitars, the man and his group have instant lift off." |
FOLK ROOTS MAGAZINE (UK) FEB 2003 |
|
KANDA BONGO MAN Review |
| "Kanda Bongo Man sure knows how to have fun. This is some of the most joyous music I've ever heard, |
| OPTION MAGAZINE (USA) |
KANDA BONGO MAN Review |
| "Zairean soukous is a lilting,
rippling, dance groove that seems to smile from every register, with
melody and rhythm inseparable. Kanda Bongo Man himself sings melodies that curl through the patterns like vines on a trellis." |
| NEW YORK TIMES (USA) |
KANDA BONGO MAN Zing Zong HannibalHNCD 1366 |
"Soukous music seems to grab people around the waist, hurl them mercilessly around the dancefloor and unleash an irresistible urge to dance to exhaustion. People who normally dance as though their movements are being governed by a puppeteer with hiccups suddenly acquire the rhythmic precision of Michael Jackson. And this album is soukous at its best" |
| FOLK ROOTS (US) NOVEMBER 1997 |
Kanda Bongo Man |
| "If Kanda Bongo Man's Infectious
brand of Zairian soukous doesn't make you want to dance call an ambulance.
You're dead.
On " Zing Zong", his third U.S. album, the Paris based Kanda adds a slinky horn section to the traditional Zairian rhumba with its galloping drums, rippling guitar interplay and call-and-response singing. Into this tapestry, Kanda - singing in Lingala - weaves his gleaming tenor like a single gold thread. Yet for all that's going on, Kanda's music is as airy, light-footed and joyful as dance music can be. Soukous derives from the French word meaning "to shake." And that's exactly what "Zing Zong" will make you want to do. A minus. (Kanda plays tonight at Nightstage.) - Kevin R. Convey " |
BOSTON HERALD, FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 27TH 1991. |
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