Amos Ngaira
18 August 2007
Nairobi — With the death of talented Congolese singer and composer Madilu Bialu System in Kinshasa last Saturday, TP OK Jazz, the legendary band the late Rhumba maestro Franco Luambo Luanzo Makiadi founded and ran for more than three decades, is back in the news.
But it's grim news indeed, because in the twilight of his career, Franco who had a way of nurturing younger musicians to prominence, brought Madilu into the band and their partnership produced some of the best songs of his repertoire that spanned more than three decades and produced 600 albums.
These include the OK Jazz repertoire of close to 3,000 compositions that Franco released with some his former colleagues in TP OK Jazz, such as the late Vicky Longomba, Rossignol, Paul Ebengo and others.
Last year, the TP OK Jazz dynasty suffered a major blow with the death of veteran bassist Mpudi Decca, best remembered for his humorous role in Mamou, the song where Madilu did the lead vocals.
Two other leading members of the TP OK Jazz band - Mayaula Mayoni and Prince Youlou Mabiala - have reportedly been unwell in the recent past.
Mayoni, who was a footballer before switching to full-time music in the early 1970s, is best remembered for having composed the Cherie Bondowe song and Ndaya which was sung by the late Mpongo Love. For the last couple of years he has been living in Tanzania before reportedly going back to Kinshasa and later abroad for treatment.
As for Mabiala who suffered a mild stroke about two years ago, he had all along associated with Franco having done the famous duet Mado in the 1960s.
If these members of TP OK sound a little unfamiliar, many Kenyan fans of Lingala will remember Madilu, the heavily-built crooner who sung such songs as Pesa Position in 1984. This is the composition that propelled him to stardom since joining the legendary band in 1980.
He was a key member of the Franco entourage during his last tours of Kenya in the 1980s, until his (Franco's) death in a Brussels hospital in October 1989. Madilu was also a fashion icon, who was fond of wearing the loose and flowing Mandela-type shirts and dark shades. This earned him the nickname of Le Grand Ninja from his fans.
While still at TP Ok Jazz, he played a leading role in some of the songs like Mario, Mamou, Non and Boma Ngai, ngai naboma Yo' (released after a Kenyan tour by the band in 1986).
Madilu was a regular visitor to Kenya and particularly in the Coast where he organised a private wedding ceremony to an older Swiss woman (Paulette Juonodi) in Mombasa in August 1995.
Despite the age difference with the Swiss woman, Madilu appeared not shaken by the move as he reportedly told his fans that it was love that had made them to marry. Veteran Nairobi-based broadcaster and music promoter Fred Obachi Machoka confirmed having been among those who attended Madilu's wedding with the Swiss woman.
"Having interacted with Madilu I found him to be a social and down-to-earth person who could easily team up with anyone both on and off stage," Machoka said.
However, not much was heard of the Swiss bride as Madilu appeared to concentrate on his Congolese wife Mama Biya Matumuene, with whom he had seven children, according to US-based Congolese promoter and producer Tamukati Ndongola.
In a recent statement to the Saturday Nation, Tamukati pointed out that Biya who lives in Paris, had revealed to him that Madilu had spoken to her about an hour before he died early last Saturday morning in Kinshasa.
"When I spoke to her last Saturday morning in Paris she recalled the last conversation she had with Madilu who was by then complaining of severe pain all over the body. To her these words will always be memorable and she promised to give details during his burial this weekend," Tamukati said.
According to close associates and family members, Madilu, who had a for a long time been battling with diabetic complications and high blood pressure, had two nights prior to his death performed with his band in Matadi in DRC.
It was after his condition worsened that he was driven from Matadi to Kinshasa where frantic efforts to save his life failed with the singer collapsing. He died as doctors struggeld to revive him at hospital in Kinshasa last Saturday morning.
Similarly, Tamukati confirmed that his closeness to the family was such that Madilu had named his 12-year-old son Tamukati after him.
Condition worsened
"As a personal friend I will always miss him particularly having arranged most of his shows to Kenya in the mid-1990s, " Tamukati said.
One of the most memorable tours to Kenya arranged by Tamukati was in September 1994 when he performed at the Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi.
This one of the first tours Madilu was making with his new-look back-up band after having left his former colleagues in TP OK a little earlier.
Soon after the death of Franco, a rift emerged within the band with veteran musicians Lutumba Simaro Massiya alongside Josky Kiambukuta and others forming the Kinshasa Bana OK band while Madilu chose to pursue a solo career in Paris, France.
After breaking from TP Ok to go solo, Madilu showed a keenness in training younger musicians and choreography.
He had a nack for improvisation and an ability to blend styles, breaking with the slow Rhumba and up-tempo "Mayeno" beat associated with TP OK Jazz to do music that younger fans would identify with.
Visiting Nairobi
His counterpart, General Defao, speaking in Nairobi earlier this week confirmed having spoken to Madilu recently where they discussed the possibility of Madilu visiting Nairobi.
"I was expecting him to join me in Nairobi soon for a joint recording session of my next album during which time he would also have recorded clips for his next album," Defao said.
The 57 year old Madilu, was in the league of Nyboma Mwandido, the late Pepe Kalle, Papy Tex, Dilu Dilumona, Bopol Mansiamina and Wuta Mayi.
During his early days in music he performed with Pepe Kalle in the 1970s in the Bakuba band. However, due to differences particularly with the similarity in voices between him and Kalle, he left to form Bakuba Mayopi.
Incidentally, after Franco's death, Madilu penned the hit song Nzele in which he mourned Luambo. The song was a remix of an earlier version of Nzele composed in the 1970s.
The remix version of Nzele also incorporates extracts from veteran Tabu Ley's Mongali hit song
US-based Congolese promoter and producer Mekanisi Modero, who was also in touch with the Saturday Nation this week, recalled having performed with Madilu.
"I still remember when I played with him for the first time in a shortlived group Fiest Populaire in 1971 and when he joined Afrisa also briefly in 1989. He was a very good person, always with a word to bring laughter to everyone," he said.
American-based musician Samba Mapangala noted that the Congolese music scene had lost an inspiring singer who was popular in the African continent and in the Diaspora.
"I can recall how in the 1990s we had teamed up for shows with him in Mombasa alongside my Nairobi-based Bofta Maluedi," he said.
Madilu's body will be taken to the State de Martyr in Kinshasa on Monday for public viewing. According to Robert Osano a Kenyan living in the DRC capital, the burial is tentatively set for next Wednesday.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2007 The Nation. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
