One of the great global success stories of the past few years, Staff Benda Bilili have become an unstoppable force. A group of street musicians who used to live & play around the grounds of the zoo in Kinshasa, Congo, they make music of astonishing power and beauty. The band’s mesmerising rumba-rooted grooves, overlaid with vibrant vocals and extraordinary tin-can guitar solos, have been dazzling audiences and media the world over, on record, on stage and on the big screen.
STAFF BENDA BILILI Conquer Euro Crowds; receive Womex Award
The magnificent Staff Benda Bilili have been wowing French audiences on their first short tour outside of Kinshasa.
3000 people gathered round the stage at Les Eurockéennes Festival in Belfort, France, for a phenomenally-received late afternoon set of their infectious rumba-rooted grooves...
Staff then moved on to Les Temps Chauds Festival in Bourg-en-Bresse, where before another great show they spent time with the young offenders who had helped build replicas of the customized tricycles the band's disabled members use to roam around Kinshasa. And finally, the crowning glory - a triumphant show at Cabaret Sauvage in Paris with fellow Crammed Congolese bands Konono No.1 & Kasai Allstars...
All this follows the news that that Staff have been awarded the WOMEX (World Music Expo) 2009 Artist Award, which will be presented to them at the event in Copenhagen at the end of October - when the band will embark on their much-anticipated full European tour, including a just-announced date at The Barbican Centre in London on Nov 10th...
Then there's the band's recent two-month residency at the top of the World Music Charts Europe, and their high positioning in the CMJ World Charts in the States... the sound of Staff Benda Bilili, already "Très Très Fort" (as the title of their wonderful debut album tells us), is getting louder and stronger by the day....
