Details: CRAMMED DISCS

The mesmerising music of Staff Benda Bilili and the band's extraordinary story have been making a strong impression worldwide. A group of paraplegic street musicians who live in and around the grounds of the zoo in Kinshasa, DR Congo, one can hear raw power, fragile delicacy and incredible beauty in their music: the eternal pulse of Congolese rumba combined with voices that conjure the crooners of Havana, the toasters of Kingston and even the Godfather Of Soul himself.

The core of the group consists of four seasoned singer/guitarists perched on spectacular customized tricycles, occasionally dancing on the floor of the stage, arms ...

Read Full Biography

Staff Benda Bilili rocking Europe!

In what has become one of the most talked-about tours of 2009, Congolese rumba-funk warriors Staff Benda Bilili have been ripping through Europe with a string of scintillating live shows.

The continent's media has responded in a chorus of praise, with top TV networks, broadsheet newspapers and world-renowned radios lavishing the band with attention. Meanwhile, the end-of-year plaudits for 'Très Très Fort' have started coming in, with Mojo naming it 'World Music Album Of The Year', not to mention no. 30 in its overall albums chart. More to come!

Meanwhile, check out some of the amazing press reactions to Staff's tour below...

VIDEO LINKS

Press quotes

"As tonight's show proves, Staff Benda Bilili would be a remarkable band regardless of their background. Not only do they sound incredible, they exude an inscrutable cool ... In the crowd, jaws drop, as well they should in the presence of such an extraordinary band"
-Guardian, 5 stars

"There is movement all over the stage: four pirouetting wheelchairs, and crutches used by mighty arms to swing on. Another of the band vaults from his wheelchair and spins on half-legs, ululating with a dazzling grin. All have turned apparent weakness to strength long ago... Like all the finest African bands, Staff Benda Bilili's swirling complexity removes the option to do anything but dance ... Havana cantina, Kinshasa slum, psychedelic club or London arts centre – this crack outfit would tear the roof off anywhere."
-Independent, 4 stars

"With their harmonies, bubbling rap and call-and-response chanting, they turn the Barbican into a joyous cauldron"
-NME

"...Their first London show packed the Barbican with an audience that, six months ago, had never heard of them ... seconds after they started playing, none of the back story mattered. They were, without qualification or allowance, the most exciting band to emerge from Africa in years ... Very, very strong. Very, very great. Very, very loud"
-Financial Times

"The album from Staff Benda Bilili has already generated a degree of excitement to rival the adulation lavished on Malian pop stars Amadou & Mariam"
-The Times

"In world music circles, this eight-piece from the Congo are the most talked about band of the year"
-Daily Telegraph

"Exotic and extraordinary their history may be, but Staff Benda Bilili are not here for refined anthropological analysis, they're a thrilling live band ripe to tear up any festival or dancehall that their touring schedule throws at them"
-The Arts Desk

-Photo (c) Belle Kinoise

View Full News Archive