Staff Benda Bilili - Democratic Republic of Congo

This group of homeless and polio-afflicted musicians, who live on grounds near the Kinshasa Zoo, has become a global sensation. The core members of Staff Benda Bilili (it means “look beyond appearances”) are singer/guitarists Ricky Likabu, Coco Ngambali and Theo Nsituvuidi, who perch on spectacular customised tricycles, occasionally dancing in them as they perform.

Their music is an energetic polyglot of styles, with the eternal pulse of Congolese rumba propelled by a young acoustic rhythm section that also embraces the sounds of Havana, Kingston and Harlem. Soprano singer Theo is a fan of James Brown and Bob Marley, while Roger Landu is a 17-year-old prodigy who plays a satonge, a one-string electric lute he designed and built from a tin can.

These extraordinary street musicians were discovered in 2005 by French filmmakers who made them the subject of a feature film. In 2007, they met British and US musicians who visited Kinshasa as part of the Africa Express trip, winning fans in Massive Attack and Damon Albarn. Soon after, producer Vincent Kenis recorded their first album, Tres Tres Fort in the grounds of Kinshasa Zoo. Its immediate success led to the band’s first European tour in 2009.

www.myspace.com/staffbendabilili