Drums come to the fore in this debut album from Congolese-American artist Kiazi Malonga
In the Bantu languages spoken throughout Central, Eastern and Southern Africa, ‘ngoma’ represents an important part of musical and social culture. The literal translation is usually given as ‘drum’, but it more accurately refers to a unified concept of drum-dance-song-music. You can beat the ngoma, or sing it, or dance it, and in doing so, create ngoma. Ngoma is at once playing, moving and listening – it is by nature reciprocal and collaborative.
Tembo kia Ngoma explores the drum and its wider meanings in sound in an impressive and considered debut from Congolese-American artist Kiazi Malonga.