Jean-Bosco Mwenda was born in 1930 at
Bunkeya (now part of
Lualaba Province) in what was then the
Belgian Congo, but lived most of his life in
Lubumbashi, where in addition to playing music he had a job in a bank and with the local mining company, managed other bands, and owned a hotel on the Zambian border. He died in September 1990 in a car accident in
Zambia. Mwenda used the name Mwenda wa Bayeke, claiming descent from the
Sanga noble clan of Bayeke. His music draws on various sources including the traditional music of his
Luba/Sanga people. He was one of the few Congolese to obtain a Western education during the colonial era due to his father's position in the
Catholic Church. Mwenda worked at first as a clerk for the
Likasi administration but soon achieved huge success as a guitarist, issuing his first recordings in 1952. Along with his friend and sometime partner Losta Abelo, and his cousin Edouard Masengo, Bosco defined the Congolese acoustic guitar style. His song "Masanga", recorded by
Hugh Tracey, became particularly influential, because of its complex and varied guitar part. His own influences included traditional
music of Zambia and the Eastern Congo,
Cuban groups such as the
Trio Matamoros, and
cowboy movies. A 1982 video field recording by
Gerhard Kubik exists in a compilation of influential African guitarists artists entitled
Native African Guitar. A 1982 CD with booklet (text by Gerhard Kubik, also in English, including the
Kiswahili song texts), is available from the
Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin. The recordings include the complete concert Bosco gave at June 30, 1982, at the Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin. In 1988
Cape Town-based record label
Mountain Records recorded a studio album of Mwenda's music and issued it in 1994. The album is entitled
Mwenda wa Bayeke - African guitar legend. ==See also==