Siama’s Congo Music at Lake Harriet Bandshell

This show is part of our new Children’s Series running every other Friday from June 14 to August 23!

Siama’s Congo Music (10:00am-11:30am)

Siama was a boy in rural DR Congo (then known as Zaire) just as a new style of music called soukous was emerging. Musicians in the capital city of Kinshasa had combined their parent’s traditional rumba music with Cuban rhythms and soul from the US and England to create the music that’s still ubiquitous on dance floors throughout the world. Little did he know he’d later play an important role in its popularization.

While growing up in the Bakongo region of western Zaire, music was the center of everything. Siama was immersed in his community’s ancient tradition of spending evenings under the stars telling stories and singing and dancing together. Siama started teaching himself to play guitar at age 12 by playing along to the radio and it quickly became his singular passion.

He left home at 17 with his guitar strapped to his back and hit the city of Kinshasa determined to make his mark. Soon after arriving, he was enlisted by the popular band Cavacha. He hesitated when they asked him to compose a song but with their encouragement he came up with a his first composition. He was overwhelmed when it hit the radio airwaves, which whet his appetite and sealed his fate.