Biography of Sam Mangwana.

Biography of Sam Mangwana.

Superb Congolese singer and songwriter; was born on 21 February 1945 in then Leopoldville, now Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the largest city in that country. His father was a native of Zimbabwe and Sam's mother was a native of neighboring Angola.

Mangwana made his professional debut in 1963 with a brief turn at the mic behind Tabu Ley Rochereauin the Congo-Kinshasa rumba band African Fiesta. Almost immediately the wanderlust that would mark his career and earn him the epithet "pigeon voyageur" began to surface. He crossed the Congo River to Brazzaville where he formed a short-lived group called Los Batchichas and worked with the more established Negro Band and Orchestre Tembo. Back in Kinshasa, he worked again behind Ley in African Fiesta National.
Mangwana emerged from Ley's shadow in 1967 as one of the leaders of an offshoot of African Fiesta National called Festival des Maquisards. The band included a number of excellent musicians—singer Ntesa Dalienst and guitarists Dizzy Mandjeku and "Michelino" Mavatiku Visi—who became mainstays of the Congolese music scene. Mangwana's "Zela Ngai Nasala" (Wait While I Work), about a workingman whose wife holds him to the standards of the rich, ranks among the band's best works.

In 1969 Mangwana split from the Maquisards along with guitarist Jean Paul "Guvano" Vangu. The two recorded occasionally as a duo until Mangwana caught on with O.K. Jazz, led by the formidable Franco, in 1972. As a lead singer on compositions by O.K. Jazz guitarist Simaro Lutumba, Mangwana became a full-fledged star. The collaboration yielded three extraordinary hits: "  Ebale ya Zaire" (River Zaire), about the loss of a loved one; "Cedou" (a woman's name), a rambling discussion of human relationships; and "Mabele" (the earth), a meditation on life and death.

Following a brief return to Tabu Ley's band, by then called Afrisa, Mangwana moved to Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. There, along with other expatriate (mostly Congolese) musicians, he formed the short-lived but influential African All-Stars in 1978. Mangwana's songs of the man-done-in-by-woman genre like "Georgette Eckins" and "Suzana Coulibaly" were among the band's best sellers. When the All Stars broke up the following year, Mangwana became a solo artist, recording and touring with varying combinations of musicians. Maria Tebbo (1980) with remnants of the All Stars, Coopération (1982) with Franco, Canta Moçambique(1983) with Mandjeku, and albums with saxophonist Empompo Loway under the names Tiers Monde Coopération (third world cooperation) and Tiers Monde Révolution were highlights of Mangwana's output in the eighties. Standouts of the nineties includedRumba Music, Congolese rumba spiced with a touch of Latin salsa, Galo Negro, a haunting acoustic collection tinged with sounds from Mangwana's Angolan ancestry, and Sam Mangwana Sings Dino Vangu, a collaboration between two Afrisa alumni.

Given the decline of the Congolo-Paris recording business and the desperate conditions of Kinshasa, Mangwana began spending more and more time in his native Angola in the early 2000s. He emerged from time to time to perform concerts in Europe and reunited with Dizzy Mandjeku, a collaborator in African All Stars, for the CDCantos de Esperança.

Genres
Rhumba
African Jazz

Occupation(s)
Recording artist

Years active
1963-present

Associated acts
TPOK Jazz
Festival des Maquisards
African All Stars
African Fiesta
African Fiesta National
Afrisa International

Discography
African All Stars: LES CHAMPIONS, 1977
Sam Mangwana et l'African All Stars: Georgette Eckins, 1978
Théo-Blaise Kounkou et l'African All Stars: ZENABA (1978)
Sam Mangwana et l'African All Stars: INTERNATIONAL SAM MANGWANA (1979)
Waka Waka, 1978
Maria Tebbo, 1979
Georgette Eckins, 1979
Matinda, 1979
Affaire Disco, 1981
Est-ce Que Tu Moyens?, 1981
Cooperation, 1982
Affaire Video, 1982
N'Simba Eli, 1982
Bonne Annee, 1983
In Nairobi, 1984
Aladji, 1987
For Ever, 1989
Lukolo, 1989
Capita General, 1990
Megamix, July 1990
Rumba Music, 1993
No Me Digas No, 1995
Galo Negro, 1998
Sam Mangwana Sings Dino Vangu, 2000
Volume 1 Bilinga Linga 1968/1969, June 2000
Volume 2 Eyebana 1980/1984, June 2000
Very Best of 2001, March 2001

Mangwana ranks as one of Africa's best-known singers. Not a classic vocalist in the soaring style of Tabu Ley or Joseph Kabasele, Mangwana compensated with an impeccable delivery and a knack for innovation. The African All-Stars speeded up the rumba's beat and helped give birth to the Paris-based sound called soukous. Galo Negrounplugged the guitars and slowed the rumba back down. Perhaps more importantly, Mangwana demonstrated that, despite intense criticism, one could follow one's muse and still make a go of it.