Anyone old enough to recall the so-called "tango ya ba Wendo," the era of Wendo, does so with a wistful sigh, for it was a time of awakening, a time of hope, a time when a long-oppressed land on the brink of independence found a national voice in music.
Wendo was born Antoine Kolosoy in 1925 in Mushie, near the northernmost reaches of the majestic Congo River. Traveling, boxing, and always singing, Wendo naturally attracted the attention of the blooming Congolese music industry. With his band, Victoria Kin, Wendo made the most of the few music clubs that operated in colonial era Leopoldville.
There is deep history in these tracks, but there is also undeniable vitality. Wendo and his musicians composed new songs for the recording and developed brand new arrangements of classics. Make no mistake about it, Papa Wendo and Victoria are alive and kicking, and as such, the Congolese rumba lives on. —Courtesy Calabash Music
