THE PEOPLE'S DARLING

M'BILIA BEL, EVERY AUDIENCE DARLING

A local car dealership in town only has female receptionists. At the entrance what first strikes an entrant is the striking beauty in their faces. They are elegantly dressed and beaming infectious gorgeous smiles. Motoring is generally a man's thing. Every motorsport competition event has more male than female participants and male students dominate an automotive engineering class. Why then would a car dealership parade ladies at its reception?

There is magic in a woman that can be used to grab the attention of a male-dominated audience. That's the wand that Marie-Claire Mboyo aka M’bilia Bel was to bring to an Afrisa stage. After the rumble in the jungle that happened in Kinshasa in 1974, which featured heavyweight big names George Foreman and Mohammed Ali, an event that was curtain raised by American rock superstar James Brown, the idea of showmanship crept into Congolese rumba, with band's deploying every means to give out the best concerts as opposed the norm of the initial stages in the evolution of the genre, where studio recording of the song was all that mattered.

Choreography seems to have worked for Tabuley, but that's the same cuisine that Orchestra Stukas of Lita Bembo and Orchestra Sosoliso, etc, were offering. Ley, being innovative had to dig up something new and that thing was songbird M’bilia Bel. A band's greatness was now being defined by how spectacular their shows were. M’bilia Bel had everything she desired for this role. She had the beauty and the curves. Her voluptuous and curvaceous body coupled with her seemingly boneless body made her dancing sensational and this resulted in her being a star attraction in the band's lineup. She was the reason everyone wanted to attend Afrisa concerts, a people’s darling.

Serious was her new role in the band, that even when Tabuley visited Kenya with star musicians like Kiesse Diambu and Ndombe Opetum, all that the audience wanted was more and more of Mbilia and very little if any of the other musicians. Even the band’s songs that didn’t feature Mbilia became a flop, no matter how creative pieces they were artistic.

That wasn’t all that went for her. Her biggest weapon was her golden voice. This all-round musician was the magic bullet that Ley needed to rejuvenate his dwindling popularity and get himself perched at the apex as Kinshasa's hottest ensemble, after the Olympia success of a decade ago in 1970.

The idea attained the intended objective with rivals like Franco having to respond with a Jolie Detta on stage and a little later the mercurial duet of Baniel and Nana. At Afrisa, everything Mbila Bel touched became gold, that when she was expectant and couldn't be available for studio assignment, ie during the recording of Iyolela, ley had to prospect around and bring a female replacement for the task, an expedition that netted Nana Akumu.

M’bilia Bel, born Marie-Claire Mboyo Moseka on January 1oth, had previously had a stint with Abeti Masikinini mostly as a dancer. Ley 'stole' her from Mangwana where she also had a stint, the very platform that made Ley hooked to her capabilities and thus began a hunt for her. 'Mpeve Ya Longo', unofficially referred to as 'kamunga' was her very first assignment at Afrisa in 1981.

Among the songs she participated in are Nadina, nakeyi Nairobi, Cadance Mudanda, Paka Wewe, napika, and many others. Most of the songs featured Dino Vangu on solo with either Dave Makondele or Maika Munan on rhythm, Shaba Kahamba on bass, and Mekanisi Modero on saxophone. This is the the oftentimes unmentioned engine that powered Mbilia to success, within Afrisa.

Her star glowed brighter with Tabuley, with whom they stayed together for six years in a combo that straddled professional frontiers, straying into romance, and resulting in a botched marriage and the birth of a daughter Melody.

As it is said of two bulls in a kraal, the Afrisa paddock couldn't hold Faya Tess and M’bilia Bel had to be displaced by the arrival of the latter, although she couldn't match the mojo of the former during her stay with the band.

With her six years stay at Afrisa Mbilia left the band a fully baked cake, able to stand on her own, and with this, she found herself walking the path of a solo career, and this saw her incorporate several other big stars, among them sessions guitarist Rigobert Bamundele, for more glory. She is still active in music to date and her impending visit to Kenya is bound to evoke old memories nostalgic of her past glory.

Although it is arguable on who was the finest Congolese female musician, since the advent of recording technology in the days of Pauline Lisanga, Marcel Ebibya, Lucie Eyenga, Rosa Lola, Mpongo Love,  Tshala Muana, Faya Tess, Baniel, Nana, etc etc, it is an uncontested fact that Mbilia is the biggest female name in Congolese music.

 By Jarome Ogola

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