PAPA NOEL IS DEAD.

PAPA NOEL IS DEAD.

This is one of Africa's brightest stars musically, debuted in the mid-1950s when the continent's music was in its formative stages with the advent of recording technology.

Noel, Originally named Antoine Nedule Montswet was born on the 29th of December in 1940 and died today on the 11th of November 2024  in a Brussels hospital. He had been hospitalized for the better part of the year. 

Noel who had mixed parentage with his parents hailing from the Republic of Congo and DRC, debuted in the musical scene in the mid-1950s as a teenager backing up Leon Bukasa on guitar, in his numerous performances and recordings. To jog your mind, Leon Bukasa was one of the biggest names in Congolese music in the 1950s. This makes Papa Noel a first generation musician in Congo's musical generation although he is equally associated with the second generation of Franco, Grand Kalle, and others. 

His guitar skills were exceptional and this is how he earned a place as a star guitarist with Rock A Mambo, a studio ensemble housed at Esengo Studios in Kinshasa. The studios were under the stewardship of Henri Bowane. This was back in the year 1958. Clara Badimwene, was Noel's magnum opus in the era, catapulting him to international fame as one of the finest guitarists of the day.

The fallen giant is possibly the most successful Congolese musician if being part of the rank and file of the country's biggest bands is anything to go by. After a sojourn with Rock A Mambo, he crossed the waters of the great River Congo to Brazaville where he featured for Les Bantous De La Capitale. By 1963, when the big bang happened at African Jazz of Grand Kalle, creating a huge void, Papa Noel was one of the youngsters recruited to replace, the defecting team of Dr Nico, Tabuley, Charles Mwamba, and others.

Noel was to feature on Vox Africa of Jeannot Bombenga, one of the scions of African Jazz. Here he played alongside Sam Mangwana whom he was to later meet at OKJ. In 1968, he created his own band Bamboula. This band also featured future superstars, Bopol Mansiamina, Wuta Mayi, Aime Kiwakana, and others. When he toured Algiers and returned, most of his musicians defected to other bands, citing non-payment, among other frustrations. This band thus lived until 1974.  

He recruited some news musicians from his Barumbu neighborhood, but again they never lasted. After some six months of rigorous practice, the band knocked on the doors of Veve Studio for a recording. 

However, as fate would have it, Verckys noticed the array of talent in this new outfit and poached them, giving them a new deal that would have them on monthly salaries, performing for his new band Orchestra Kiam. That's how the band was born. But as an adage goes, "he who lived by the sword shall die of the same", yet another promoter stole the musician with a bee deal in 1978, crippling the band, but which nonetheless staggered into the 1980s, for its eventual death in 1983. 

Papa Noel joined OKJ in 1978 and made himself home with Franco's Odemba. He did several compositions with the band and also played guitar in numerous recordings. His song Mobali Malamu is one of the best ballads from OKJ. His song Tangawizi remains one of the band's most successful songs in terms of popularity.

In the post-OKJ, he had numerous engagements among them the retiree's band Kekele Trans-continental, which did several albums. George Omondi, a Nairobi rumba aficionado mourns him, stating that Noel, one of the most revered Congolese guitarists,  whose guitar wizardry can be sampled in the song Zala Sportiff. was actually born on 29th of December 1940 and not on Christmas day as widely believed and the name Noel has nothing to do the Christian holiday, but a reverse if the Name Leon, which was his mentor name, Leon Bukassa. 

Some of his most popular works are Bon Samaritan, Selia Zozo, Madiabuana, etc, which he did in 1984, incorporating some OKJ musicians, but outside OKJ, a development which displeased Franco. In the songs, he arranged the songs himself and played both solo and rhythm. 

The rumba flag flies at half mast to mourn this legend of our times.

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