Alias:

Antoine Nedule Montswet

Musician for:

Franco Sam Mangwana

Language:

Lingala

Genre:

Rumba congolaise

Instrument:

Guitar Male vocals

Articles:
Article

On the Internet
Presentation w/video

Biography

Papa Noel belongs to the core of Congolese rumba guitarists. He stands up there with Nico and Franco as one of the guitarist elite who came out of the Congolese music revolution that followed in the footsteps of the electric guitar's appearance in Africa. In contrast to the other side of the Atlantic, one didn't begin to play rock and roll when one had an electric guitar in one’s hands - one played rumba.
Papa Noel was born in Leopoldville in what was then The Belgian Congo in 1940. Born on Christmas Day, he was given the name Papa Noel. The first music he heard on his mothers 78 record player and on Radio Congo Belge was Cuban son. His mother bought a guitar for the boy when he was eight years of age, and he began to hang around the recording studios in town. As a sixteen-year-old he made his first record and not long after played with Franco's first band, Rock-a-Mambo. He has since performed with the best of the Congolese artists, including Franco's TPOK Jazz. Over the past few years he has been the driving force behind Sam Mangwana's band. Papa Noel's style is characteristic of his relaxed but rhythmic touch.

Relevant artists:
Sam Mangwana
Franco
Kekele

BEL AMI  
Sterns Africa/2000

This disk is a part of Stern's classic series and is made up of two albums, "Bon Samaritan" and "Haute Tension", recorded in Congo and Paris and released in 1984 and 1994. This combination works brilliantly and it's impossible to tell that it all comes from two albums. The only difference is that on the tracks from "Bon Samaritan" there's a brass section with anonymous music from The Congolese Army band, that was apparently brought in off the street! Papa Noel plays the whole time with a cool sovereignty: he doesn't seem to exert himself at all; the notes just dance like diamonds out of his guitar where he plays between the strings and lets the band move steadily in the background. He has the same rhythmic feeling in his guitar playing as Keith Richards, if this comparison is reasonable. He seldom shines in long solos, but the moment he tears off some riffs one’s hips start to twitch. Sensual and irresistible.

(Clique record company and search on artist's name for sound samples)

MOSALA MAKASI
Yard High/2001

BANA CONGO  
Tumi/2002

After the cooperation with the Cuban singer and guitarist Adan Pedruso Papa Noel is back with a new Cuban project. This time the guitarist Papi Oviedo, born 1937, is partner for Papa Noel's investigation into the Cuban/Congolese musical connection. The CD is recorded in Havanna and Paris, and in addtion to the two guitarists a solid salsa band joins in. From the first riff you hear that this is an idea that works well. Both salsa, son and rumba congolais are musical forms that have travelled across the Atlantic, the two first from Africa to Cuba, the latter the opposide way. When these two guitarists meet, the fusion is perfect. They both belong to the same generation. It's hard to hear when the salsa stops and the rumba begins. It's just swinging (sic!) and sensous music played by two sensitive guitarists in the foreground. Papa Noel on his ordinary accoustic guitar with steel strings, Papi Oviedo on his Latin tres, with three sets of double strings, something that gives a beautiful dynamic. As an Africa fan I prefer the most obvious African influenced(!) songs, like Noel's own "Juliana" and "Molimo", but the CD works as an excellent introduction to the accoustic music on both sides of the Atlantic. And seldom the relationship has been better and more enthusiasticly illustrated than here.

(Clique record company for sound samples)

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