Frank Bessem's Musiques d'Afrique: Remmy Ongala & Super Matimila

Frank Bessem's
Musiques d'Afrique:

Remmy Ongala & Super Matimila
(Tanzania)

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Remmy Ongala, born a Zairean, is a very famous man in Tanzania. He is one of many Zairean musicians who tried during the 1970s to earn a living in music outside Zaire. Many of them left for Tanzania or Kenya. Back home in Zaire, too many musicians were struggling to find work in one of the known bands nor for night clubs orchestras, which were owned by successful businessmen or musicians.
Remmy, now nicknamed the Doctor or Dr. Remmy, started in music when the death of his mother left him the role of supporting his family. In 1978, he started playing in Dar-es-Salaam with Orchestre Makassy, and in 1981, he joined Orchestre Super Matimila, a band "owned" by a local businessman.
The rest, of course, is history. Matimila's music is laid back and swinging at the same time, a mix of Swahili flavour and soukous rhythms... Remmy sings of poverty and about people that lost their social ties, their dreams. He owes his popularity to the fact that he is still defending the weak in his songs.

Born: 1947, in Kivu region, Eastern Zaire as Ramazani Mtoro Ongala-Mungamba.
Style: Ubongo Beat (Tanzanian soukous).

Discography:

Title	Year	Label	Remarks
Sema	1995	WOMAD Select WSCD002
Mambo	1992	Real World RWCD 22
Songs for the Poor Man	1989	Real World RWCD 6
Nalilia Mwana	1988	Womad WOMAD 010
On Stage with Remmy Ongala	1988	Ahadi AHDLP 6007