aaamusic | On 29, Jan 2011

London, 25th January

Walking down the concrete steps of Momo, I was greeted by friendly faces and surrounded by a beautiful atmosphere full of ambience. After settling in Mourad,  Mr Momo himself took to the stage around 2130 and introduced young Congolese artist Fredy Massamba accompanied by Fred Hirschy on guitar.

I was instantly capitavated by Fredy’s unique and fresh sound as displayed through his first song ‘Ethnophonyk’ which had me instantly hooked. His fusion of spirit and talent to an array of musical form was vibrant, soulful, full of heart and meaning.

Two songs which stood out to me during the nine song set was ‘Ntoto’ and ‘Bidlu-Bio’. Ntoto’ meaning ‘Child’ in Swahili is about the children of Congo who are forced to live in different worlds because of the conflict and ‘Bidlu-Bio’ is about all the people living in freedom, both songs were full of raw human emotion and meaning that they brought tears to my eyes. Each singular lyric full of emotion, meaning, beauty, sadness and hope.

A remarkable set from a remarkable artist. A contemporary sound with deep roots.

Ethnophonyk

Pygmee

Zonza

Molo

Destiny

Messo

Ntoto

Lobelanga

Bidlu-Bio

Hear Fredy Massamba on World On 3 on Friday the 4^th of February 23:15 on BBC Radio 3.

Author: Khadija Pandor