Franco Luambo

François Luambo Luanzo Makiadi (6 July 1938 – 12 October 1989) was a Congolese musician.

He was a major figure in 20th-century Congolese music, and African music in general, principally as the leader for over 30 years of TPOK Jazz, the most popular and significant African band of its time.

He is referred to as Franco Luambo or simply Franco.

Known for his mastery of African Rumba, he was nicknamed by fans and critics "Sorcerer of the Guitar" and the "Grand Maître of Zairean Music", as well as Franco de Mi Amor by female fans.

His most known hit, "Mario", sold more than 200,000 copies and was certified gold.

Born 6 July 1938 in his mother's hometown of Sona-Bata in what was then the Belgian Congo, he grew up in the capital city, Léopoldville (now Kinshasa).

When his father, a railroad worker, died in 1949, he ended his formal education at age 10 or 11 and helped his mother by playing a homemade guitar, harmonica and other instruments to attract customers to her market stall in Léopoldville's Ngiri-Ngiri neighborhood.

He also honed his guitar-playing by working with Paul "Dewayon" Ebengo, a slightly older friend who had a real guitar.

In 1950, Franco (then age 12), Dewayon (age 16), and others formed a group called Watam, which played together for three years, playing weddings and funerals and with the help of a mentor of Franco's, the established musician Albert Luampasi, recording a few songs on the Ngoma record label.

His guitar technique was so influential that by the end of the 1950s and for years afterward, Congolese guitarists were divided into two camps, one led by Franco and the other led by Docteur Nico of Joseph Kabasele's African Jazz.

In 1953, Franco and Dewayon auditioned for musician and producer Henri Bowane, then with Leopoldville's Loningisa record label and studio, who hired both as studio musicians.

Franco released at least three records in 1953 with Watam on Loningisa, on which he was credited as Lwambo François.

Also in 1953, Franco released on Loningisa his first solo record, "Bolingo Na Ngai Na Beatrice" (my love for Beatrice), which made Franco a local celebrity in Kinshasa.

Bowane is also said to have given the young musician his lifelong name, Franco.

In 1955, Franco was among a loose group of Leopoldville musicians that began working together under the auspices of the Loningisa studio; the group was known as Bana Loningisa (children of Loningisa).

In 1956, an original founding core of six of those musicians, with Franco as the sole guitarist, agreed to accept a regular, paid gig at the O.K. Bar, named after its owner, Oskar Kashama.

A few weeks later, needing a name for a contract, the band used OK Jazz, from the place it had begun (it has also been said that O.K. stood for Orchestre Kinois, or the band of Kinshasa), and they were "baptized" under that name at a June 6, 1956 show at the O.K. Bar.

While clarinetist Jean Serge Essous was the original leader of O.K. Jazz, Franco was a prolific songwriter; Essous called him a "kind of genius" for having written over a hundred songs in his notebooks at that time.

O.K. Jazz quickly became a rival to the leading established local band of that time, African Jazz under Joseph Kabasele.

In December 1956, after some personnel changes, the new (and short-lived) lineup of O.K. Jazz released a rumba written by Franco' that would become the band's motto: "On Entre O.K., On Sort K.O."

In 1957, O.K. Jazz lost its leader, Essous, as well as original vocalist Philippe "Rossignol" Lando, when they were hired away by Bowane for his new record label, Esengo (Bowane had left Loningisa after being outshone there by O.K. Jazz).

While vocalist Vicky Longomba became the band's new leader, Franco also stepped up.

In 1958, after O.K. Jazz returned to Leopoldville after a year in Brazzaville, Franco was arrested and jailed for a "motoring offence."

Upon his release, he regained and reinforced his local reputation as the "Sorcerer of the Guitar."

Through the 1960s, Franco and O.K. Jazz "toured regularly and recorded prolifically."

By 1967 Franco was a co-leader of the band, with vocalist Vicky.

When Vicky left in 1970, Franco became the sole leader of the band.

And then, another change to Tout Puissant O.K. Jazz (T.P.O.K. Jazz) (which stands in French for The Almighty O.K. Jazz)

In 1978, Franco was imprisoned for two months by Zaire's President Mobutu for the lyrics to his songs "Helene" and "Jackie."

Later the same year, however, President Mobutu decorated him for his musical contributions.

Luambo recorded a 21-minute track, “Na Lingaka Yo Yo Te”.

It is the longest song recorded by a Congolese artist.

Franco played in the United States once, in 1983, appearing twice in New York's Manhattan Center.

In his thirty-three years with the band, Franco and TPOK Jazz released hundreds of singles and over 100 albums.

Luambo was a vocal supporter of Zaire's ruler Mobutu Sese Seko.

However, they soon became enemies.

Franco died on 12 October 1989, at Namur in Belgium, of AIDS.

(He never publicly acknowledged having AIDS, and while many sources flatly report it as the cause of death, others report this as unconfirmed, e.g., The New Yorker uses "of an illness believed to be AIDS.") Upon his death, President Mobutu declared four days of national mourning in Zaire.

It is difficult to summarize the enormous volume of recordings issued by Franco (virtually all of them with TPOK Jazz), and work remains to be done in this area.

The range of estimates suggest both the size of, and the uncertainties about, his output.