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Konono Nº1
Photo: Yaffa from New York City, New York, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0

Band · Congo - Kinshasa

Konono Nº1

Kinshasa‐Congolese musical group

Formed in 1966

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About

Konono Nº1 is a musical group from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. They are known for their DIY aesthetic, combining electric likembé (a traditional instrument similar to the mbira) with vocals, dancers, and percussion instruments that are made out of items salvaged from a junkyard. The group's amplification equipment is equally rudimentary, including a microphone carved out of wood fitted with a magnet from an automobile alternator and a gigantic horn-shaped amplifier. The genre of the band's music has been characterized as difficult to classify; the group themselves have classified their music under the labels of "tradi-modern" and "Congotronics".

Konono Nº1 achieved international recognition around 2004, with the release of their album Congotronics through the Crammed Discs record label. Appealing to fans of rock and electronic music, they played at the Eurockéennes festival in France the following year. They collaborated with Björk for a song on her 2007 album Volta, and with Herbie Hancock for a song on his 2010 album The Imagine Project. Konono Nº1 released the album Assume Crash Position in 2010, followed by Konono Nº1 Meets Batida (2016), a collaboration between Konono Nº1 and the musician Batida, also known as Pedro Coquenão.

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Also in Français

Konono No 1 est un orchestre angolais, originaire du village de Damba, au nord de l'Angola. Le groupe existe depuis la fin des années 1960 et établi à Kinshasa (République Démocratique du Congo). Fondé par Mingiedi Mawangu, virtuose du likembé (connu aussi sous le nom de sanza et parfois dénommé piano à pouces, composé de lamelles métalliques fixées à une caisse de résonance), le groupe se compose de trois likembés électriques (médium, aigu, basse) équipés de micros fabriqués à partir de vieux alternateurs de voiture, une section rythmique mêlant percussions traditionnelles et bricolées (couvercles de casseroles, pièces de voitures), trois chanteurs, trois danseurs et une sono munie de « lance-voix » (mégaphones) datant de l'époque coloniale.

Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

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