Search - Antoine Moundanda, Likembe Geant :: Kesse Kesse

Congolese musician Antoine Moundanda is one of the giants of African music, and his 1950s recordings with his band Likembe Geant helped lay the foundation for the soukous revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. Moundanda is a master of the thumb piano, or likembe in the local dialect, and Kesse Kesse, which was recorded live in 1997, offers ample proof that even in his late 60s his power as a musician is undiminished. Likembe Geant was one of the first groups to blend local music and instruments with imported styles like Cuban rumba. On tracks like "Kesse Kesse" and "Mancongo," Moundanda and his two bandmates weave rippling Congolese melodies and driving Caribbean rhythms into a marvelous tapestry of sound. Unlike most modern Congolese musicians, Likembe Geant eschew European instruments like electric guitars, horns, and keyboards in favor of their own native thumb pianos. They may not be as loud as a contemporary soukous band, but Likembe Geant more than make up for the lack of volume with the intensity of their singing and the passion of their playing. --Michael Simmons