Bakolo Music International share rumba music with the world

Bakolo Music International, the “Music Masters”, is the oldest group of roots Congolese Rumba in Kinshasa. In 1948, in Leopoldville singer Antoine “Wendo” Kolosoyi formed a group he called Victoria Kin. They recorded numerous 78 r.p.m. discs for the famous Ngoma Label Records, one of the first studio in Kinshasa. The group later became “Victoria Bakolo Miziki” and then “Bakolo Miziki International” under President Mobotu. In 1999, they returned to stage with Wendo Kolosoy rediscovered by Christian Mousset, and did several world tours until the death of Wendo in 2008. The group remain faithful to his memory and continue to compose new songs. Two films about the band-members’ lives were produced in 1993 (Tango Ya Ba Wendo, Mirko Popovitch & Kwami Mambu ZINGA) and 2007 (On the Rumba River – Wendo, Jacques Sarasin). A third film produced in 2020 is the third chapter of the trilogy.

Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic the Bokolo Music International tour to South Africa and Eswatini in 2020 had to be cancelled. However, the release of two documentaries about the group – Bakolo Music International and Bakolo Music International Live at Africolor, interviews and concert – have been widely circulated across the African continent via the Canal+ channel, generating much publicity for the legendary group.