A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
Mangwana, Sam
Sam Mangwana is one of the last of the great Zairean rumba (soukous) vocalists. Mangwana has steered soukous from the hard-edged sounds of his predecessors. According to The Washington Post, "While his former employers were the masters of the relentless, springy, soukous music of Central Africa, Mangwana employs a lighter, more acoustic, more Caribbean, sound." The son of Angola-born parents who had relocated to Kinshasha, Mangwana has been singing most of his life. After formally studying music as a member of the Salvation Army chorus, Mangwana launched his professional career in his mid-teens. By the age of seventeen, he had become the lead singer and arranger for Tabu Ley Rocherau's Africa Fiesta. In addition to singing with the group for more than a decade, he appeared periodically with other soukous bands including L'Orchestre Tembo, Vox Afrique and Franco's TPOK Jazz. Forming his own group, The African All Stars, in 1976. In the more than two decades since, Mangwana has continued to bring his unique style of soukous to the international stage.