During performances this summer at a library branch near you, kids and families are invited to join Siama and his wife, Dallas, for songs and stories that bring Siama’s Congolese culture to life.
Siama’s Congo Roots: Feel-Good Music from the Heart of Africa is a programme that encourages children and adults to sing along to catchy songs in Kikongo, Lingala, and Swahili and play fun hand percussion instruments. Hear Siama play guitar and mbira with Dallas singing harmony as you learn about Siama’s rural childhood in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Make a note of this one-of-a-kind initiative, which is supported by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund:
Monday, July 24th
Pine City Public Library, 10:30 a.m.
Wyoming Area Library, 2 p.m.
Monday, July 31st
Cambridge Public Library, 10:30 a.m.
North Branch Area Library, 2 p.m.
Siama’s story
Siama, a prolific composer and guitarist from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (later Uganda, Kenya, Dubai, and Japan), performed with many of the greats and was a sought-after studio musician during the golden era of soukous music in the 1970s and 1980s, recording hundreds of popular songs. His trademark sound and devotion to invention aided in the widespread popularity of soukous (also known as “the sound of happiness”), which is still heard on dance floors throughout the world.
Siama began his solo career in 2014 after receiving a McKnight Fellowship in Minneapolis. Now that he’s in charge of his own show, he’s devised an acoustic format, a flood of new material is pouring in, and he’s collaborating with musicians from all over the world.
Siama, a Congolese musician, and his wife, Dallas, will perform songs and tell stories that bring Congolese culture to life at the East Central Regional Library. Siama’s Congo Roots: Feel-Good Music from the Heart of Africa encourages both children and adults in singing along to catchy songs in Kikongo, Lingala, and Swahili, as well as playing fun hand percussion instruments.
Siama was a sought-after studio musician during the golden era of soukous music in the 1970s and 1980s, recording hundreds of popular songs as a composer and guitarist from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (later Uganda, Kenya, Dubai, and Japan). His trademark sound and devotion to invention aided in the widespread popularity of soukous (also known as “the sound of happiness”), which is still heard on dance floors throughout the world. Siama began his solo career in 2014 after receiving a McKnight Fellowship in Minneapolis. Now that he’s in charge of his own show, he’s devised an acoustic format, a flood of new material is pouring in, and he’s collaborating with musicians from all over the world.
Siama grew up in a rural area in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Siama will play guitar and mbira as Dallas sings along as they learn about Siama’s rural childhood in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The programme will take place in the Chisago Lakes Area Library on June 27 at 10:30 p.m. and the Wyoming Area Library on July 24 at 2 p.m., thanks to funding from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
This beautiful performance features Siama’s energetic singing, skillful finger-picking acoustic guitar, and captivating traditional African instruments like Mbira (thumb piano), Lokole (tone drum), and Balafon that bring renowned artist Siama Matuzungidi’s rural Congolese culture to life (marimba). While percussionist Luke Rivard adds enticing African beats, Dallas Johnson narrates and urges everyone to sing along in Kikongo, Lingala, and English. Siama hopes that whenever he performs, you would be moved to sway, dance, and sing along. It’s no surprise that his music is dubbed “the Sound of Happiness.”
Siama was a prominent studio musician in Africa, recording hundreds of songs and travelling the world with well-known Soukous singers such as Kanda Bongo Man, Tshala Muana, Sam Manguana, and Samba Mapangala. (Soukous is a fast-paced dance music that originated in Bas Congo, Siama’s home region in the Democratic Republic of Congo.) Siama moved to Minneapolis in 1996 after residing in Uganda, Kenya, Dubai, and Japan. In 2014, he was awarded a McKnight Fellowship, and since then, he has received multiple grants and accolades for his captivating original compositions inspired by Soukous, traditional Congolese music, Congolese Rumba (a genre inspired by Cuban Rumba), other flavours he’s picked up along the way.
Venues and events of the highest calibre.
He and his wife Dallas recently earned World Music Pedagogy certificates from Smithsonian Folkways, and they host fun library programmes and teach in schools for COMPAS and Classical MPR’s “Class Notes Artists” programme, in addition to performing special concerts at premier venues and events and teaching in universities. Siama’s album “Rivers – from the Congo to the Mississippi” was featured on the BBC and Songlines Magazine, and he and Dallas’ children’s CD, The Land of Yangalele (yawn-gaw-LAY-lay = “happiness”), won a Parents’ Choice Parent Approved award and received praise from Grammy-winning artists like The Okee Dokee Brothers (“We dig it! A wonderful addition to the family music collection! “Excellent rhyming and performance.” “When we listen to “The Land of Yangalele,” we hear Mama Africa,” says Ladysmith Black Mambazo. This is lovely music that anybody may appreciate.”) Siama’s music can be found at www.SiamaMusic.com/Music and on Spotify, and she can also be found on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube as @SiamaMusic.
