When the Congolese musician Franco died of an illness believed to be AIDS, in October of 1989, the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko declared four days of national mourning. Many of the members of Franco’s ...

Thirty years after the death of Luambo Luanzo Makiadi “Franco”, the most famous band leader in the history of Congolese popular dance music, the man who was his deputy in T.P O.K. Jazz and his ...

This week we remember two African musicians who died recently. They might not be well-known here in the U.S., but both were legendary artists in African music. Masuka performed and recorded into her ...

The Rev. Henry Simaro used to flag down vans filled with Western tourists in hopes of collecting money to help children living in shanty towns near Nairobi, Kenya. Occasionally, the tourists would ...

Paris-Congolese music legend Simaro Masiya Lutumba is dead, his son Salomon Lutumba has confirmed. The legendary TPOK Jazz deputy leader, composer, arranger and rhythm guitarist passed on at his home ...

When it comes to helping children, race and culture – even distance – disappear. Orange County is in East Africa and East Africa is in Orange County. I’m wandering around a Starbucks in South County ...

Legendary Congolese musician Lutumba Ndomanueno Simaro will be buried in Kinshasa on May 5, with a befitting State send-off planned. An official announcement by DR Congo government released on ...

It seemed as if the meeting of the American financial planner and the Kenyan priest had to happen. They were religious people, and the enterprise that would transform their lives came in the form of a ...

Browse Simaro Lutumba movies, appearances, and specials.