Tabu Ley Rochereau

1940–1958: Early life and career beginnings

Pascal-Emmanuel Sinamoyi Tabu was born on 13 November 1940 in Bagata, Kwilu in the then-Belgian Congo.^[7][9][10] He attended the École Moyenne Saint Raphaël in Limete, where his education later helped him secure a position in the secretariat of the Athenaeum of Kalina (Athénée de Kalina).^[11] Music journalist Clément Ossinondé wrote that Tabu Ley became interested in singing while he was still a student. He first performed as an amateur and regularly sang with his classmate Joseph Mulamba "Mujos".^[12] Around the same time, he also sang with a small band called Afric'Ambiance, mainly out of personal interest, and performed in a bar on the corner of École and Kigoma streets in the Kinshasa commune.^[11] He later adopted the stage name "Rochereau" after the French General Pierre Denfert-Rochereau because he liked the name and had learned about him in school.^[1][12] During those years, Western films were very popular in the city's cinemas, including Macoley on Kigoma Street, Siluvangi on Croix-Rouge, and Mbongo Mpasi on Ruzizi Street in the Casamar quartier of Barumbu. Many young people followed the Bills fashion subculture, and Tabu Ley often appeared wearing a scarf around his neck.^[11]

Ossinondé also noted that Tabu Ley's voice gave him the chance to record with Rock-a-Mambo on several releases by Éditions Esengo.^[12]

1959–1964: From African Jazz to African Fiesta

He made his official debut with Le Grand Kallé's African Jazz on 6 June 1959 at the Vis-à-Vis dance hall in Kinshasa, where he performed with Mujos. During the concert, he sang "Kelya" as a duet with Le Grand Kallé for the first time, and the song later became one of the best-known performances of his career.^[12][13][14] Although he made his debut in 1959, he only became a permanent member of African Jazz after the group's return from Brussels in 1960. He then recorded with Kallé and Mujos at Éditions Esengo.^[12] The band's lineup included singers Franklin Boukaka and Jeannot Bombenga, guitarists Casimir Mutshipule "Casino", André Kambeta "Damoiseau", and "Papa" Bouanga, bassist Charles Kibongé, and other musicians. African Jazz went on to record several popular songs written by Tabu Ley, including "Mwana Mawa", "Catalina Cha Cha", and "Marie Josée", and regularly performed at the Amuzu dance hall on Kitega Street in Kinshasa.^[12]

In 1961, the band returned to Brussels for a second tour, accompanied by Tino Baroza, Dicky Nicolas Tshilumba "Dicky Baroza", Edouard Lutula "Edo Clari", Joseph Mwena, and Manu Dibango. During the trip, they recorded several works, including Baroza's "Lolo Brigida", dedicated to Gina Lollobrigida, Kallé's "Mayele Mabe", "Africa Bola Ngombi" (alternatively titled as "Africa Bola Ngongi"), and Baroza's "Jamais Kolonga".^[15][16][17] The latter, which translates to "never defeated", was inspired by Jean Lema, a journalist for Radio Congo Belge who delivered the live broadcast of the Congo's independence ceremonies on 30 June 1960 and was a close associate of Kallé.^[18] While in Brussels, internal disputes within African Jazz in Kinshasa led a number of members to establish the splinter group called African Jazz–Nico. After Kallé returned, the rival factions reconciled in June 1961, and in September, the reunited band celebrated their reunion with a concert featuring Déchaud's emblematic composition "African Jazz Mokili Mobimba" (meaning "African Jazz all over the world"), which was initially performed by Tabu Ley before later being interpreted by Kallé.^[18] Around the same period, Nico Kasanda also organized another African Jazz-inspired formation that included Déchaud, Tabu Ley, Kaya Depuissant, and Willy Mbembe. The rival lineups ultimately came together again in 1962 for a West African tour that produced hits such as "Paracommando", "Sala noki Pascal", "Nkulu Norbert", and "Succès ya African Jazz".^[15]

After helping African Jazz become the leading orchestra in the Congo and one of the most influential bands in Africa for almost ten years, the group began facing organizational issues.^[12] In May 1963, nearly all of Le Grand Kallé's musicians left the group and joined Nico Kasanda to create African Fiesta,^[12] a group that had initially been established in 1962 under the joint leadership of Tabu Ley and Nico Kasanda while both were still members of African Jazz.^[15] The new band included Tabu Ley, Roger Izeidi, Charles Mwamba "Dechaud", Mujos, Jean Mossi Kwami "Kwamy Munsi", Antoine Kaya "Depuissant", Wedi Dominique Kuntima "Willy Mbembe", Louis Armando, and many others.^[12] African Fiesta quickly gained popularity through its first Vita label releases, including "Seli Kutu", "Camalée", "Ndaya Paradis", "Ya Gaby", and "Permission", which helped establish Tabu Ley as one of the band's leading singers and composers.^[12]

1965–1996: African Fiesta National, later career and exile

African Fiesta's early success was short-lived. By 1965, growing internal disputes between Nico Kasanda and Tabu Ley over the band's leadership had become impossible to settle. The group broke apart, and in 1966 it officially split into two rival bands. Nico Kasanda led African Fiesta Sukisa with Charles Mwamba "Dechaud", Pierre Bazeta "De la France", André Lumingu "Zoro", Victor Kasanda "Vixon", Joseph Minguiedi "Jeef", Pedro Matafula "Cailloux", Gabriel Kayunga "Francky", Paul Mizele "Paulins", Michel Banda "Micky", Joseph Ayombe "José", Dominique Dionga "Apôtre", Lambert Kalamoy "Vigny", and Georges Armando.^[12] Meanwhile, Tabu Ley formed African Fiesta National that brought together Roger Izeidi, Henriette Boranzina "Miss Bora", René Kasanda, Sam Mangwana, Joseph Mwena, Auguste Futu Izeidi, Paul Vangu "Guivano", Johnny Bukasa, Jean-Pierre Nzenze "Jean Trompette", Willy Kuntina, Samu Armando, Henri Dongala "Fredos", Jean Matondo "Zoé", and Antoine Kolosoy "Wendo".^[12] The next year, Tabu Ley's "Congo Avenir", performed with African Fiesta National, gained widespread popularity through its message urging the Congolese people to unite in support of the country's renewal.^[19]

In 1970, Tabu Ley formed Orchestre Afrisa International, Afrisa being a portmanteau of "Africa" and "Éditions Isa", his recording label.^[20] Along with Franco Luambo's TPOK Jazz, Afrisa was now one of Africa's greatest bands. They recorded hits such as "Sorozo", "Kaful Mayay", "Aon Aon", and "Mose Konzo". They performed also at the Zaire 74 and therefore are in the documentary film Soul Power.

In the mid 1980s Tabu Ley discovered a young talented singer and dancer, Mbilia Bel, who helped popularise his band further. Mbilia Bel became the first female soukous singer to gain acclaim throughout Africa. Tabu Ley and Mbilia Bel later married and had a daughter named Melody Tabu together. In 1988 Tabu Ley introduced another female vocalist known as Faya Tess, and Mbilia Bel left and continued to be successful on her own. After Mbilia Bel's departure, Afrisa's influence along with that of their rivals TPOK Jazz continued to wane as fans gravitated toward the faster version of soukous.

Rochereau performing at the Paris Olympia in 1970

After the establishment of Mobutu Sese Seko regime in the Congo, he adopted the name "Tabu Ley" as part of Mobutu's Zairization of the country, but later went into exile in France in 1988.^[7] In 1985, the Government of the DRC banned all foreign music from the National Radio service. After Tabu Ley composed the song "Twende Nairobi" ("Let's go to Nairobi"), sung by Mbilia Bel, in praise of Kenyan president Daniel arap Moi, the ban was promptly lifted. In the early 1990s he briefly settled in Southern California where he attended Moorpark College. He began to tailor his music towards an International audience by including more English lyrics and by increasing more international dance styles such as Samba. He found success with the release of albums such as Muzina, Exil Ley, Africa worldwide, Babeti soukous, and Man from Kinshasa. The Mobutu regime banned his 1990 album "Trop, C'est Trop" as subversive.^[4] In 1996, Tabu Ley participated in the album Gombo Salsa by the salsa music project Africando. The song "Paquita" from that album is a remake of a song that he recorded in the late 1960s with African Fiesta.

Return from exile

When Mobutu fell from power in 1997 and the AFDL under Laurent-Désiré Kabila assumed control, Tabu Ley returned to Kinshasa and was named a deputy by Kabila.^[21] In 2000, he was part of the supergroup Haute Tension, alongside King Kester Emeneya, Werrason, Manda Chante, Bill Clinton Kalonji, and Adricha Tipo-Tipo, with their nine-track album Apocalypse, which was produced by Jacko Sayala through his record label Jacko Production.^[22] By the end of 2001, reports indicated that he was considering a return to music,^[21] and on 13 April 2002, Tabu Ley performed at King Kester Emeneya's concert at the Olympia.^[23][24] He was also scheduled to perform at the LCS venue in Paris on 30 November, along with his dancers, the Love-Ley, and musicians from the Dynastie band.^[25] However, the concert was canceled because the musicians and dancers were unable to get their visas, due to the widespread "Ngulu" phenomenon, where some music officials used the visa process for personal gain by sending non-musicians in place of real artists, which created an unfair system that negatively impacted legitimate musicians trying to work internationally.^[26][27] As a result, Tabu Ley and other artists found themselves trapped between the battle against visa system abuse and the obstacles that prevented them from continuing their musical careers abroad.^[27]

He participated in the fifth edition of Pan-African Music Festival (Festival Panafricain de Musique; FESPAM), which was held in Brazzaville from 9-17 July 2005.^[28][29]

African Fiesta

African Fiesta National

Orchestre Afrisa International

Contributing artist

• The Rough Guide to Congo Gold (2008, World Music Network)
• Congo Funk! (2024, Analog Africa)