Niwel Tsumbu

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Niwel launches his new album 'Nzela Molayi' with a TV appearance on the View RTE1 on Tuesday 24th October and tour of Ireland. To see the gig dates check the listings section. To see video clip of the TV performance click here

Over the last 50 years Central Africa has built itself an incredible reputation for giving birth to many of the World’s greatest guitarists, and Congolese Niwel Tsumbu is a fitting ambassador to carry that torch forward into the 21^st Century. Raised on the traditional Soukous and Rhumba music of his homeland he began playing from an early age and went on to study both jazz and classical guitar - enrolling secretly in a classical music school where he also studied saxophone for a year.

The leader of several bands, including Sumu, Motema and Jazmu, all of whom played at many festivals around Ireland including The Dun Laoghaire Festival of World Cultures, The Bray Jazz Festival and Limerick Global Beats Festival Niwel is truly a musical innovator.

With influences from far and wide, his elegant and fluent guitar playing draws from Niwel’s past excursions with African rhythms, rumba, jazz, classical, flamenco and much more besides.

Playing electric & acoustic guitars & singing mostly in his native 'Lingala', Niwel plays a range of music that stretches from contemporary versions of Congolese traditional music from the 1930s & 40s to modern Jazz. Niwel's love of the Spanish style of guitar playing beautifully exposing Congolese Rumba's Latin roots.

For further details on Rumba/Maringa see Mose Fanfan

BIOGRAPHY

The fifth child of a family of six Niwel was born in 1982 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (ex Zaire). Growing up in Kinshasa he was a shy boy and devoted himself to school, until one day his brother Coco Ngoma brought a guitar home which he used when he played with a local band. A week later Niwel's cousin Papy Makaya who taught him his first piece on the guitar was amazed with the sixteen year old's ability to learn and play the music of his ancestors - Soukous and Rumba.

Three months later his schoolbag was under his bed and the guitar took its place: instead of studying he stayed up all night playing the guitar; went to school with one copybook and no pen, humming melodies and thinking of the fingering on the guitar. Niwel's mother Georgina was crying and blaming Coco for Niwel losing path, as she hoped her clever son would become an engineer or a lawyer. And that's when the guitar was banned from the house. However this did not stop the seventeen year old instead it opened the door for him to go out and meet other musicians and play with them.
 
Niwel still did not own a guitar so he borrowed his friend's and had to climb over the back wall and sneak it into his house. He would then lock himself into his room and play for the day. He was later introduced to Crispin Ngoy: a very talented musician who passionately taught Niwel jazz. This became a way of discovering many other types of music.

Niwel's love and passion for different kinds of music and instruments increased apace and at the age of seventeen he secretly enrolled himself into a music college for a year. Niwel wanted to play the saxophone but the school only had one which was broken - this however did not stop him.

NIwel still did not have his own guitar, and after walking an hour to school he would then walk an hour and a half to watch his friend Dju rehearsing with a jazz band, then walk two hours home, drop his schoolbag, walk another thirty minutes to borrow a guitar, and then walk a further forty minutes to Crispin's house for a jam. On school holidays he would get up in the mornings and be in Crispin's house for nine and play until the night.

Niwel moved to Ireland in 2004 where he quickly made friends on the Irish music scene. He began playing with many local bands and formed the groups Sumu, Jazzmu and Motema. Niwel has played on many stages- from cultural awareness and charity gigs- to both the Cork and Bray Jazz Festivals, the Festival of World Cultures in Dun Laoghaire 2005, and the Spiegeltent for the last two years in Cork.

Niwel has supported the likes of Kila, The Wailers, Horace Andy from Massive Attack, and Cameroon virtuoso bass player Richard Bono as part of the Bulmers World Music Festival in Cork. He is set to play the Ruby Session in August.

Currently working with Cork percussionist Eamonn Cagney, Niwel's first solo album: "Nzela Molayi" ("It's a Long Way" in Congolese) is due for release shortly.

Listen to track 7 of Niwel's New Album Nzela Molayi

Listen to Take 5 from Niwel & Jazmu

Listen to extract of Niwel and Mose Fanfan

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Last modified: 02/23/11