live @ Baird Auditorium 7.22.2000
The Smithsonian Associates continued their diverse and exemplary Millennium season Saturday night by presenting African musical legend Wendo Kolosoy at the Baird Auditorium. Kolosoy, better known as Papa Wendo or simply Wendo, renowned as the master of the Congolese rumba, was making his first-ever appearance in Washington as part of his first North American tour, not particularly noteworthy--except that Wendo is now 75 years of age. Saturday night, he proved he was still lithe at 75.
Presenting a program of songs centered around Wendo’s latest recording “Marie Louise”, which takes its name from his 1948 hit, his five-piece band, including the often-mesmerizing guitarists Bikundra N’Zoku (acoustic rhythm) and Vula Missy (electric lead), spun the joyous sound of the rumba with easy grace.
Wendo enjoyed his greatest popularity in the 1950’s in Leopoldville (now Kinshasa), where he worked as a ship’s mechanic for the River Congo Transport Authority and gained fame by singing in every port. His vocals Saturday night often fell into the kind of rhythmic interlock with the guitars and background vocals that was reminiscent of the interworkings of an engine, though sashaying undertones added a dollop of sensuality to the mechanical . Wendo’s still-vibrant voice occasionally soared into a lead-chant that was near-yodel, which traced a long historical line that lead to the country blues yodel of Jimmie Rodgers. Watching Wendo’s gentle rumba dance and hearing the exultant lilt in his voice was no mere dry history lesson, though, it was the observation of the latest chapter in a great musical life story.
Washington Post, July 2000
