Biography
Tabu Pascal, 1940, Bandundou, Zaire. Alongside Franco, Ley (aka Rochereau) is one of the most influential and prolific musicians in contemporary Zairean music, with a catalogue of recordings - some 200 albums - almost as vast as Franco’s. But there the similarity ends. Where Franco played a rootsier version of Zairean rumba, Ley has based his career on a tuneful, sweet-voiced ballad style that has inspired many of the new generation of Zairean artists, including Empire Bakuba, Kanda Bongo Man, Langa Langa Stars and Victoria Eleison. Born to middle-class parents, Ley attended one of Kinshasa’s most prestigious schools, and outraged his father when he announced that he wished to make a career as a dancehall star. His first public appearance on stage was at the enormous Stadium Du 20 Mai in 1955, guesting with a long-forgotten rhumba band, when his performance of his own composition ‘Besame Muchacha’ (later recorded by Le Grand Kalle) turned him...
Read the Full Biography of Tabu Ley Rochereau & Afrisa International Orchestra
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