Planet Ilunga presents Docteur Nico & African Fiesta Sukisa (1966-1974)
(3LP & Digital)

RELEASE DATE: December 5

Pour nos lecteurs francophones: Cliquez ici pour la version française de cet article

Planet Ilunga presents, in collaboration with the children of Nico Kasanda alias Docteur Nico, an anthology dedicated to African Fiesta Sukisa, available as a 3LP and a digital release (with bonus songs). This release is the fruit of many years of preparations and was realized in close partnership with Liliane Kasanda, Nico’s eldest daughter. Marking forty years since his passing, we felt that the year 2025 was the right time to honor Docteur Nico’s legacy with this original collection.

Almost all of the African Fiesta Sukisa songs were released on Nico’s Sukisa label which translates in Lingala for “the final accomplishment”. The music on Sukisa, crafted by Nico, Dechaud and legendary vocalists such as Chantal, Sangana, Apôtre, Lessa Lassan and Josky, embodies the essence of that powerful phrase with genius and class. The label ran between 1966 and 1975 and released approximately 280 songs. Ngoma also issued the group between 1967 and 1971 and, in addition, reissued material from the Sukisa label. Many of the Sukisa songs have become part of the collective memory of Congolese society and are still heard, discussed, and analyzed daily across digital platforms worldwide, as well as on numerous Congolese radio and television stations.

The album we put together features some of African Fiesta Sukisa’s signature songs alongside never before reissued tracks from the Sukisa catalog. It furthermore contains a large booklet with song commentary, testimonial interviews from well-known musicians, journalists, fans and Nico’s entourage, besides never-before-published photos from the family’s personal archive, illustrating the life and career of the one and only ‘dieu de la guitare’.

Alastair Johnston, author of the book ‘A Discography of Docteur Nico’ and longstanding Planet Ilunga collaborator, designed a stylish booklet and cover using all our collected material. Audifax Bemba, longtime admirer, compiler and connoisseur of Nico’s music, and the author of most of the song commentary in our accompanying and very visual booklet, offers his portrait of Nico Kasanda:

“After displaying technical virtuosity with African Jazz, expert and accomplished guitar with African Fiesta, which musicologist Sylvain Bemba described as a dream guitar, Nico Kasanda was consecrated ‘dieu de la guitare’ by the public in the late sixties. With his band African Fiesta Sukisa, Docteur Nico displays his wide palette of unusual sounds. While exploring the Hawaiian guitar with its clear, airy, plangent, psychedelic effluvia, he continues to replicate the piano comping technique, and adds two missing strings to his bow: a simulation of the sanza (likembé or thumb piano), whose sounds he reproduces right down to the noisemakers of the tiny tin rings on the one hand, and the sounds of the Luba balafon on the other.

The right note, in the right place, at the right time, is the triptych on which Nico Kasanda’s playing is based, a note dressed in the perfect sound. A guitar of pure emotion. With African Fiesta Sukisa, his playing takes a ‘Chopin-esque’ turn, sending out more notes in a sublime adagio. The true artist is the one who simplifies everything. Docteur Nico is a genius of our time, whose style makes him the supreme exponent of the most important guitar school in Congolese music. He is recognized by his peers as the greatest African solo guitarist of all time. Sculpting sound in a tireless quest for beauty, Nico Kasanda has sublimated the guitar throughout his career.”

Release info

* 3LP album with a large 28-page booklet: tracklist
* digital album with bonus tracks (coming soon on Bandcamp)
* liner notes in English & French
* made in collaboration with the estate of Nicolas Kasanda
* numbered LP edition
* manufactured by Pallas (Germany)
* worldwide distribution

Acknowledgements

Concept & compilation: Bart Cattaert
Notes: Audifax Bemba, Alastair Johnston, Bart Cattaert
Art Direction: Alastair Johnston
Proofing: Hayat Assabounti & Alastair Johnston
Audio restoration & mastering: Pieter De Wagter (EQuuS)
Lacquer cut: Michael Kuhn (Manmade Mastering)
Video editor: Alan Brain
Manufacturer: Pallas in coordination with Britta Fanck (Handle With Care)

My gratitude to: Liliane, Francois, Georges, Annie & Nicole Kasanda, Audifax Bemba, Alastair Johnston, Sam Mangwana, Alan Brain, Emmanuel Bossekota, Henry-Noel Mbuta Vokia, Bony Bikaye, Gary Stewart, Maika Munan, Pepe Felly Manuaku, Jean-Paul Vangu, Dizzy Mandjeku, Hayat Assabounti, Jean Paul Kitenge Muadi, Zoi Sakka, La Fondation Dr Nico, Pieter De Wagter, Mike Grinser, Paul Cavvadias, Arts-Loi, Christian Ongoba, Alexandre Bodiou, Frank Wouters, Cindy Teme, Robert Keith, Florent Mazzoleni, Xavier Jacono.

Special word of thanks goes to Liliane “Titi” Kasanda, who entrusted me with the precious task of honoring her father’s legacy through this anthology, showing patience and discretion. I am also grateful to Audifax Bemba for his passion and knowledge of Nico’s music and his humor, as well as to Alastair Johnston for his generous advice and additions to the tracklist and for the design of this album. And finally to all the friends of Nico in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and around the world who have shared a testimonial.

‘Lipopo ya ba Nganga’ is another magic Congolese production from the Souvenirs from the Congo 2LP. The song captured me, as it was different from what I was hearing in most Kalle-compositions. Lyric-wise, this is one of Kabasele’s strongest efforts.

Natiya mwa loléya na posi
Ekobima ngai awa nakozonga wele wele
Chèque na ngai ko esila kala
Mibayu nadefaka bakanga pointage kala
Mboka ko moko kombo ebele
Kinshasa Kini Malebo Lipopo Léoville eh *

In the sixties, after the independence, Joseph Kabasele composed a song that captured the zeitgeist of post-colonial Kinshasa (Léopoldville). The title of the chant, ‘Lipopo ya ba nganga, means loosely translated ‘The magic of Kinshasa’. Kalle describes the fixation on escapism, instant gratification and consumption in urban life. It now can be interpreted as a social commentary against the hedonistic way of life in former Léoville. The translation of the last line* sums it up rightly: a single city, yet many names: Kini Malebo, Lipopo, Léoville…

The picture with the weird dancing couple shown above is the standard front cover of the Série des nouveautés, a series of 45 rpm ep’s on the legendary Congolese label Ngoma. It gives a glance of the first popular bars in Kinshasa during the vibrant fifties. Orchestras from the likes of Kabasele’s African Jazz, Franco’s OK Jazz or Rock-A-Mambo were performing in those bars. The pictures below are snapshots of the nightlife in Kin La Belle – another Kinshasa nickname – during the 1950s and 1960s. When the modern world became more accessible to Congolese people, albeit the wealthy ones. They are all made by Jean Depara, an Angolan photographer who moved to the Congo in the early fifties.