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THE INDOMITABLE MANGWANA.
The year is 1963. Tabuley and Mangwana share the leadership of the newly created African Fiesta, an offshoot of the popular African Jazz of Grand Kalle.
Tabuley had scouted for a fresh talent, a new singing sensation by the name Mangwana. The young man was only 17 years old.
Tabuley invited Nico to come to see the newfound. A wonderful singer he was, as they discovered from the brief audition.
The biggest challenge was that he was still a minor and a student in a secondary school. With word doing rounds that the band has a new singing bird, Club Petit Bois was jammed that Saturday, but trouble was lurking.
Mangwana's father had sent cops to arrest the guy and bring him back home. Dr Nico and Tabuley beat the dragnet by sneaking him through the rear exit and driving him into hiding in town.
Mangwana made a name for himself as a great singer with the band. This must have happened from concerts because there aren't any popular recordings of the band that existed for three years, that feature Mangwana's prominent vocals.
It was long before the defection bug bit Mangwana and he sailed across the river to Brazzaville where he had stints with several bands, among them Los Batchichas and Orchestre Tembo.
In the 1960s and 1970s alone he switched membership to several bands among them Vox Africa of Jeannot Bombenga, African Fiesta National of Tabuley, Festival Des Maquisards, Festivals de Sam et Guvano, TPOK, AFRIZAM, African All Stars, and others.
He did very remarkable recordings with Tabuley in his new band Africa Fiesta National in 1966 and 1967. He showcases his proficiency as a polyglot in djibebeke benefits, sophie elodie, pangoula, laisser toi aime, etc.
At Maquisards he was the band's lead vocalist and did the band's most popular hits zela ngai nasal, coco Collette, and more. At OKJ he brought a golden era to the band. Songs done in the period he is the band's magnum opus.
Mabele, Ebale Ya Zaire, Bodutaka Na Lavie, Toyeba yo, Alimatou just to mention a few are some of the popular ones, that he sang in. Another unique trait with Mangwana is that he seemed to have had a close relationship with the band Eben after quitting.
For example, he was back at OKJ for more musical projects even after quitting as a member and the same can be said of Afrisa, previously African Fiesta National.
So popular in Kinshasa was Mangwana that when he joined OKJ from Afrisa via a host of other bands, in 1972, strikes erupted in the town, with some approving and some disapproving his move.
Mangwana is a true citizen of the continent. He was born in Kinshasa of an Angolan mother and a Zimbabwean father. Those are already three nationalities. He had musical sojourns in the Republic of Congo, Cote D'Ivoire, and even East Africa, where he recorded songs maasai, kabibi and others, backed up by Ibeba System, a local band comprising expatriate Congolese musicians.
As fate would have it, Mangwana who is presently enjoying his retirement in Angola advised his fans about the happiness in life that's brought by marriage, ie 'furaha ya bwana ni kuwa na bibi' as portrayed in his song, Mangwana seems not to have followed his own advice and refused to get himself a 'bibi'(wife).
When this writer interviewed him through a friend, all questions relating to his family and/or marriage life went unanswered.
His close musician friends, those whom he has worked with for years always have long narratives about him but a loud silence has always succeeded in questions relating to his family, save for the fact that his younger brother Pascal Mangwana was equally a good singer with Veve.By Jerome Ogola.
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