When I first saw Staff Benda Bilili I could not resist sharing them with the rest of you folk out there.
This is just amazing, stimulating, joyous, moving music. Enjoy.
Staff Benda Bilili are a group of street musicians in Congo-Kinshasa. They live around the grounds of the zoo in Kinshasa, and play music which is rooted in rumba, with elements of old-school rhythm 'n' blues and reggae. The core of the band consists of four senior singers/guitarist, who are all disabled (they suffered from poliomyelitis when they were young) and move around in spectacularly customized tricycles. They are backed by a younger rhythm section consisting of ex-sheges, abandoned street kids who were taken under the protection of the older members of the band. The soloist is an 18 year-old boy (2009) who plays guitar-like solos on an electrified one-stringed lute he designed and built himself out of a tin can.
Staff Benda Bilili have earned the 2009 Artist Award at Womex (World Music Expo).
Staff Benda Bilili have sought to raise awareness about crimes against humanity in Democratic Republic of the Congo, contributing to the Enough Project and Downtown Records' Raise Hope for Congo compilation. [Wikipedia]
Je t'aime
Staff Benda Bilili performing Je t'aime live on later with Jools Holland on May 17 2011
Sala Mosala
Same performance as above.
Polio
Staff Benda Bilili in a recording session at the zoological garden of Kinshasa.
Filmed by Belle Kinoise.
