Born on July 7, 1939, in Mikalayi, in the province of Kassaï, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nicolas Kasanda Wa Mikalay, known as Nico Mobali, then Dr. Nico, attended a vocational primary school in Kinshasa, in the mechanical section from which he graduated. with a turner’s diploma. Two years later, he taught in a professional school before definitively opting for music. The guitar is his instrument of choice and benefits from solid training thanks to his cousin Emmanuel Tchilumba Wa Boloji Aka alias Tino Baroza? his spiritual master.
At 17, under the guidance of his brother Charles Mwamba Aka Dechaud (guitarist), Nico joined Joseph Kabaselé’s African Jazz where he recorded his first 45 as a soloist for Opika, titled “Témbé nyé”. Subsequently, the boss of Opika publishing having noticed his talents and wishing to keep him in his stable (house orchestra) gave him a bicycle and his first guitar. One thing led to another, Nico would finally establish himself as a certified soloist within African Jazz.
During the round table in Brussels, Belgium, where politicians from the former Belgian Congo met to negotiate the independence of this country with the Belgian authorities, African Jazz enhanced the ceremony. Nico will mark the album “Independence cha cha” with his sophisticated guitar riffs, often considered the first pan-African hit record and which helped to popularize Congolese rumba. In 1963, following the challenge to the unorthodox management of Joseph Kabaselé, Nico and Tabu Ley Rochereau left the African Jazz and founded the African Fiesta from which were born later, in 1966, the African Fiesta National of Rochereau and the ‘African Fiesta Sukissa by Nico. This follows a leadership conflict between the two.
From 1966 to 1970 were the prosperous years of the African Fiesta Sukisa orchestra. Under the leadership of Dr Nico and great singers such as Apostle, Mizélé, Chantal, Lessa Lassan and Josky Kiambukuta, the African Fiesta Sukisa is at the height of glory. It became one of the most popular groups on the Congolese music scene, excelling in a traditional rhythm from the Kassaï region, “Le mutuachi”, with a rhythm section composed of Georges Arnaud (drums), Luningu (bass guitar), Dechaud (guitar accompaniment), and the rhythmic flights of Dr Nico’s guitar. The sublime titles, namely “Ngalula”, “Nico a lekaki”, “Bougie ya motema”, “Marie Pauline”, “Sanza zomi na mibale” or even “Bolingo ya sens unique”, “Sadi na boyi masumu”, ” Bolingo ezali pona kissi té” popularize the Congolese rumba and amaze the music lovers of Pool Malebo.
-In 1972, the African Fiesta Sukisa experienced difficulties and it descended into hell. At the beginning of the 1980s, Nico tried in vain to return to the top of the bill in Tabu Ley’s Afrisa and Abeti Masikini’s Les Redoutables orchestra. His final attempt to refloat the African Fiesta Sukisa fails. Also note the collaboration with singer Lucie Eyenga which will be short-lived.
Affected by illness during 1985, the man considered a true legend of the Congolese classical guitar will be transported urgently, thanks to the medical coverage granted by the Presidency of the Republic to artists (granted very late), on September 22, 1985, at the Saint Luc hospital in Brussels where he died on the night of his admission. Note that Dr Nico was one of the two great Congolese guitarists and his greatest rival was Franco Luambo Makiadi, leader of the TP Ok Jazz orchestra. They were both innovative artists and very passionate about the guitar, creators of two styles which are the foundations of Congolese music, namely the African Jazz style with Nico, and the Ok Jazz style with Franco that many guitarists and artists from Pool Malebo as well as the continent continue to draw inspiration today.
Dr Nico, during his musical career, produced works of good artistic quality punctuated by rhythmic flights of his guitar of which he alone held the secret. He was rightly nicknamed by fans and music lovers “Dr Nico, god of the guitar”.
