By Caroline Nyanga

With their Na Bado style, they are curving a niche for themselves in modern rumba.

Bandleader and animator Kigusile Mulenda, popularly known as ‘Hon Mapumzi’, and his Success Classique Band perform with strong emotion and flamboyance. Their brand of Congolese rumba is heavy on the electric guitar, the sounds always evolving and hard to predict as is clear in their pieces Ajira, Shukrani Ya Punda, Atieno, Sio Siri and Realite.

Mapumzi’s melodies and compositions have earned him wide recognition and a large following on the showbiz scene.

Members of Classique Band. Photo: Evans Habil/Standard

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No wonder the Success Classique Band always plays to packed houses. Relatively new on the Nairobi scene, the group has already played at various popular clubs.

In 1991 as a teenager in his church choir in Kigoma, DRC, Mapumzi began nurturing his newly discovered music talents. Being a music lover, he was not entirely new to the art.

"I liked rumba from my childhood and already had a sizeable collection of records by Congolese greats. There is something unique about the rumba style. It will eat into you slowly but will remain etched in the mind for a long time. TP OK Jazz, then headed by the late Franco Luambo Luanzo Makiadi, was my favourite band."

Animating and singing

When he later came to Kenya, he worked with various Congolese bands like Senza Musica, Mangelepa Kibush and Acrimogene. It was at the time that Mapumzi began doing what was to become his trademark — animating and singing. Today he has so perfected his skill that the rare splintering of the sounds emanating from his playing with glass smooth edges cuts him as a guitarist with extraordinary skill.

He surprises himself with his animation exploits.

"Sometimes, when I sit to listen to what I have played, I get surprised at my achievements!"

In the band are Villy Mapenzi and Jose Mondele on vocals; Emperuta Bokasa, Bebe and Chinoi on rhythm, solo and base guitar respectively; Christoph Banyakwa and Cascas Majela on drums and Idris on keyboard. Last year, they recorded their debut album Realite, which is enjoying airtime on various radio stations.