Bavon Marie-Marie

Bavon Siongo Luambo (27 May 1944 – 5 August 1970), known professionally as Bavon Marie-Marie, was a Congolese guitarist and songwriter. He was a prominent figure in the Kinshasa music scene during the 1960s, best known as the younger brother of Franco Luambo. Despite his short life, he achieved significant popularity through the band Négro Succès.

Before finding his permanent home, Bavon cycled through several ensembles including Les Barons du Jazz, Les Cousins Bleus, which he founded himself in Boma in 1961, Orchestre Cubana Jazz, Orchestre Jamel Jazz and briefly Orchestre Cobantou de Dewayon, where he worked alongside guitarist Papa Noël Nedule. Each formation honed his technique, deepening his command of the odemba style and the rumba idiom he had absorbed from Franco's playing. When Bholen Bombolo returned from Europe in 1964 and sought Franco's help to resurrect Orchestre Négro Succès, which he accepted and made Bavon join. On 15 December 1964, the reconstituted band played its first gig at the Vis-à-Vis club in Matonge, with Franco providing his brother both a guitar and an amplifier.

From 1965 onwards, Bavon and Bholen turned Négro Succès into one of the most popular bands in Kinshasa. Bavon's guitar style, uptempo and funky, laced with rock-inflected riffs and occasional 6/8 passages, thrilled a younger generation. A string of hits followed: "Lucie Tozongana", "Yalimbisa Bijou", "Libanga Na Libumu", "Maseke Ya Meme", which sent the band to the top of the charts. Bavon Marie-Marie died on 5 August 1970 at the age of 26 in a car crash in Kinshasa.

Life and career

1944–early 1960s: Early life, education, and career beginnings Bavon Siongo Luambo was born on 27 May 1944 in Kinshasa, then Léopoldville in the Belgian Congo, to Yvon Emongo and Hélène Mbonga Makiese. After his father's death, he was raised by his mother in the "Far West" neighborhood, an area that now forms part of the Ngiri-Ngiri commune. He was the younger brother of François Luambo Luanzo Makiadi, later known as Franco, who was born six years earlier. Hoping to spare him the rough-and-tumble life of a working musician, a profession viewed with considerable social suspicion at the time, Franco sent him to study in Bas-Congo. Despite this, Bavon remained interested in music and secretly learned to play the guitar under the guidance of José Kayenge.

By then, Franco had already established himself as a studio guitarist at the Loningisa record label, having joined the company in 1953 at the age of fifteen. Aware of the financial difficulties and social stigma often associated with a musical career, he wanted Bavon to continue his studies and ideally pursue a profession such as medicine to became a doctor. Vicky Longomba, singer of OK Jazz, nicknamed him "Marie-Marie" (derivating from marié-marié) because of his reputation for often being seen in the company of a different woman each day. In 1964, Bavon joined Orchestre Cobantou de Dewayon and played alongside guitarist Papa Noël Nedule. came about through a remarkable act of fraternal reconciliation. When Bholen returned from Europe, he approached Franco for equipment to revive the band. Franco agreed to provide support on the condition that Bavon would be part of the new formation. A 1969 tour to Kenya was a significant milestone. Bavon was seen on the streets of Nairobi, and eyewitness accounts from the time describe the scale of his celebrity in East Africa. while "Maseke Ya Meme" was read by many as a prediction of the artist's imminent death. The lyrics of "Maseke Ya Meme" opened with the Lingala phrase "Famille oyo, motema mabe / Bondoki ekoma mosala", this family, hearts are wicked / witchcraft has become an occupation, and went on to describe the singer being entrusted with the burden of carrying the family's honor, a weight that he feared might crush him. On the night of 5 August 1970, Négro Succès had a concert scheduled. Bavon had already been drinking before arriving at Bar Kimpwanza, where they learned the concert had been cancelled. The group dispersed, only to reconvene at Bar Vis-à-Vis for a concert by Johnny Bokelo's Conga 68 band. His son Aimé would later state that the argument was also triggered because Marie-Josée had left her children with her sister to attend the concert. In the confrontation that followed, Marie-Josée left by taxi. Bavon set off in pursuit, intercepted the taxi, took Marie-Josée into his car, and drove away at high speed. In the car a fight broke out between the two while he was driving. Bavon Marie Marie crashed his vehicle, the 1970 Renault 16, into a stationary Fiat truck loaded with wood near Cosbaki (the Bandalungwa-Kintambo sports complex), at the level of the Makelele bridge.

Selected discography Two LP records of Négro Succès came out on the African label, and a few CD compilations were released in the 1990s. Since 2004, the original tapes were released by the Luambo family, and for the first time with permission of the family, a series of CDs was issued covering the legacy of Bavon Marie Marie.

Posthumous albums

Singles