Vumbi Dekula
Congo Guitar
music merch community
edit navigation bar
Congo Guitar
by Vumbi Dekula
You own this
x
Share Tweet Share on Tumblr
Embed this albumsmall
medium
large
Email
supported by
Ex-Friendly thumbnail
Ex-Friendly Composed and recorded in just two days, this is the sound of the Congolese guitar traditions at its rawest. Complemented by the occasional use of Karl Jonas Winqvist’s rhythm box drum machine and subtle complementary backing vocals and percussion, Vumbi’s sparkling syncopated playing is front and centre. Bursting with joyful verve and bluesy intent, this co-release between Karl Jonas’ Sing A Song Fighter imprint and the UK’s brilliant Hive Mind Records is a standout of the year for me so far.
Philip Hill thumbnail scottmetzger47 thumbnail Emil Lech Studzinski thumbnail flockavellli thumbnail Neil Sherwood thumbnail bl_wtm thumbnail horseplatitudes thumbnail rise804 thumbnail Jed Lackritz thumbnail golden_brown thumbnail Cosmic Chambo thumbnail dogvanya thumbnail Flame Top Blue thumbnail Steven Perry thumbnail I.S. thumbnail Ross Jenkins thumbnail communitypool thumbnail Get Shown The Light thumbnail daveyswenson thumbnail Isaac Olson thumbnail diane thumbnail dtdoris thumbnail Phitts thumbnail Trevor Smith thumbnail Jacob Sunshine thumbnail scott thumbnail oldjollymon thumbnail kcqbd thumbnail Paddy W. thumbnail wayneandwax thumbnail Shut up, birdie! thumbnail Andy Wilkinson thumbnail lasaperec. thumbnail Alessandro La Barbera thumbnail guiguitaro thumbnail gaylebrogan thumbnail Nick Watts thumbnail Dan thumbnail ռօʍօռɛʏռօɦօռɛʏ thumbnail Richard Kingston thumbnail Martin Brimicombe thumbnail Baldruin thumbnail Christopher McCarthy thumbnail Phil Harrison thumbnail Buddy Peace thumbnail martin_g thumbnail agl4ever thumbnail Franz thumbnail IB thumbnail Lamixtape.fr thumbnail dbp thumbnail Stephen Cirelli thumbnail Zeke Clough thumbnail oz_tk thumbnail economyoflanguage thumbnail Ryan Sarno thumbnail bobby_lee thumbnail Simon Harper thumbnail mikehorn thumbnail claxtondog thumbnail
more...
Edit Bulk Edit
Zuku 00:00 / 05:25
Edit
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
package image package image
************* IMPORTANT! *****************
EUROPEAN CUSTOMERS SEE BELOW
Limited edition 12" black vinyl. Reverse board printed sleeve + poly lined inner sleeve
Includes unlimited streaming of Congo Guitar via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Download available in 16-bit/44.1kHz.
ships out within 5 days
£15 GBP or more
Edit
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
package image package image
*************************** IMPORTANT ******************************
CUSTOMERS OUTSIDE OF MAINLAND EUROPE SEE ABOVE
Limited edition 12" black vinyl. Reverse board printed sleeve + poly lined inner sleeve
Includes unlimited streaming of Congo Guitar via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Download available in 16-bit/44.1kHz.
ships out within 5 days
€19 EUR or more
Digital Album
Streaming + Download
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Download available in 16-bit/44.1kHz.
You own this
1.
Afro Blues 03:34
2.
Maamajacy 05:30
3.
Zanzibar, Kinshasa & Vällingby 07:02
4.
Congo Yetu 02:22
5.
Zuku 05:25
6.
Weekend 05:40
7.
UN Forces (Get Out of the Democratic Republic of Congo) 03:56
about
"...The music here simply glistens with an honest joy. Delicate melodies, tip-toeing rhythms, Dekula's chiming guitar and cosy vocal shares take you drifting closer to home or dreaming of distant places"
John Parry, Backseat Mafia
"...this ‘experiment’ is a huge success. Homely, intimate and joyous, the simplicity of the recording lays bare the restorative emotional impact of his music, a true balm for the soul"
Justin Turford, Truth & Lies Music
"...it's magical: multitracked with his own accompaniment, and here and there backed by a very gentle drum machine, Dekula plays with aching delicacy and consumate class"
Francis Gooding, The Wire
"...the fluid mix of Rumba, Soukous, the blues, rock-a-by-baby type soothing balms, the tropical and Afro-Cuban...is both a joy and discovery"
Dominic Valvona, Monolith Cocktail
"Revelatory material"
Boomkat
Hive Mind and Sing-A-Song Fighter are delighted to present to you their first collaborative release, the amazing solo guitar album from legendary Congolese guitarist Kahanga Dekula aka ”Vumbi”.
At last, Mr Dekula is finally releasing an instrumental solo guitar album after more than 40 years of playing lead guitar in numerous great bands and orchestras.
Vumbi, who now lives in Sweden, is one of Europe's greatest ambassadors for Congolese music, has got a special story to tell and he uses his magnificent, infectious guitar playing to do so...
Vumbi and the guitar go back a long time.
Born with polio in the Kivu province of North Eastern Congo, Vumbi grew up in a Swedish missionary home and picked up the guitar at an early age. Listening intently to the radio, he learned the style and rhythms of Rumba and Soukous from the giants of the Congolese guitar sound, Dr Nico and Franco.
"Listening and playing Soukous music makes you feel happy to be alive and you just have to dance to it no matter what".
In the early 80’s Vumbi emigrated to Tanzania where he successfully auditioned to play lead guitar for the legendary group Orchestra Maquis. He toured extensively with the band, and from them he earned the nickname Vumbi, his solos being one of the main attractions of Orchestra Maquis' live shows.
He moved to Sweden in the early '90s and played in numerous bands including the Makonde Band with Ugandan artist Sammy Kasule and Ahmadu Jarr's Highlife Orchestra. In 2008 Vumbi put together his own group, The Dekula Band, playing his beloved rumba and Soukous every saturday night to an eager crowd of dancers in a worn and faded restaurant in Stockholm called Lilla Wien. Vumbi has since taken the group's infectious and hypnotoic sound to Stockholm Jazz Festival, Face Z in Geneva and festivals and shows around Europe.
Swedish producer Karl-Jonas Winqvist (founder of Sing-A-Song Fighter and member of Senegalese/Swedish act Wau Wau Collectif) has been a longtime fan of Vumbi Dekula’s artistry which led to him releasing The Dekula Band's debut album ”Opika” in 2019 with the Dekula Band.
While watching the band perform was always a blast, says Karl Jonas, his desire to hear Vumbi play on his own, without the thunderous drums, wailing saxophones and chanting vocals grew in his mind, “Because, in a way, Vumbi’s guitar playing is like an orchestra on its own. And the idea of just concentrating on all the amazing riffs and beautiful, uplifting melodies was just so appealing”.
Karl-Jonas proposed the idea of producing a solo album to Vumbi, and within a week the production process began
Recorded in two days during lockdown at the Helter Skelter Studios in Stockholm, Karl and Vumbi allowed the music to guide them. Vumbi was inspired to play 2nd guitar adding some harmonies and melodies here and there, and on the final track (”UN Forces Get Out of the DR of Congo”) he introduced a banjo into the world of ”Congo guitar”. Karl Jonas started up his old rhythm box machine to some of the songs to see how Vumbi and his playing would react to it. Elsewhere, wordless backing vocals from Karl-Jonas and Emma Nordenstam were added to Maamajacy, bass melodica by Karl-Jonas appears on Weekend, and a little piano tinkering from Emma adds some sparkle to Zuku. But clearly, Vumbi's virtuoso playing remains the star of Congo Guitar.
credits
released September 15, 2023
Recorded over two days in 2022.
Mixed and mastered at Helter Skelter Studio in Stockholm, Sweden by Henrik Sunbring (except "Congo Yetu" which was recorded and mixed by Ronald Bood at Wallingatan Studios in 2019)
Produced by Karl Jonas Winqvist.
All music was composed by Kahanga "Vumbi" Dekula. All rights reserved.
All guitars by Vumbi Dekula.
Vocals and Banjo (B4) by Vumbi Dekula.
Rhythm Box (A2, B2, B4), Field Recordings (A1, B1), Bass Melodica (B3), Percussion (A2, B2, B4) and Backing Vocals (A2) by Karl Jonas Winqvist.
Piano (B2) and backing vocals (A2) by Emma Nordenstam.