Top African crooner Sam Mangwana, who is today marking his 81st birthday, will also seize this opportunity to deeply reflect on his more than six decades in music. Mangwana, who now lives in Luanda, Angola, his ancestral home away from Kinshasa, DR Congo, his birthplace, is bubbling with enthusiasm following great recognition.
One is his recent award in DR Congo in recognition of his immense talent. He is proud of having been recognised for his flawless musical prowess in a country renowned for this art.
Speaking recently to the Saturday Nation , Mangwama was also upbeat about having been recognised by Unesco as a rhumba ambassador. In DRC, he was feted by President Felix Tshisekedi.
He was buoyed by the recognition and support he got from Kinshasa for his session back-up band. As he pointed out, this encouraged him to have an additional back-up band based in Kinshasa besides the one in Luanda to cater for his loving fans there. Last month, the veteran singer also launched a website through which his fans will be able to interact with him.
As he recalled, before he was born, both his parents fled from Angola to settle in Kinshasa. They escaped political persecution under Portuguese colonisation.
Top African crooner Sam Mangwana.
Photo credit: Pool
He is many years later, still amused at how his fans across Africa often debate his real ancestry. "At one time, I was even referred to as a half- Zimbabwean due to my surname," he said.
Born on February 21, 1945, in Kinshasa, Mangwana, who is also popularly known as "Le Pigeon Voyageur" (the travelling pigeon) for his roving and solo efforts as a musician, is a perfect linguist.
He is fluent in not only French, but also in Lingala, Portuguese, English and Kiswahili. Some of his popular all-time compositions include Fatimata, Souzanna Coulabily”:Kabibi’, Maria Tebbo and Bana ba Cameroun. For fans of Congolese rhumba, Mangwana was the musical transition between arch rivals Tabu Ley Rochereau and Franco Luambo Makiaddi. However, Mangwana owes his inspiration in singing to Tabu Ley, with whom he made his debut in the African Fiesta band in 1963.
In 1968, he had a stint with Festival des Maquisards alongside singer Ntesa Dalienst, and guitarists Michelino and Dizzy Mandjeku. His debut with TPOK Jazz was in 1972, when he sang on the big songs, Mabele", Toyeba Yo, Ebale ya Zaire, Nakoma Mbanda na Mama ya Mobali na Ngai and many others. The other vocalists were Michel Boyibanda, Lola Checain, Josky Kiambukuta, and Wuta Mayi.
He left TPOK Jazz to rejoin Tabu Ley in his renamed Afrisa International Band, before going solo in West Africa.
He returned to Franco’s TPOK Jazz in 1982, singing on the "Cooperation album. He also sang with Franco on his final album, Forever. In Kenya, Mangwana’s fans will recall the 1984 “Furaha ya Bibi’ hit song that he released in Nairobi. Others included Lugha ya Mapenzi .
He is looking forward to visiting Nairobi again, where he jokingly said: "I might finally find a partner in my twilight years, having lived single all along.”
