Verckys Kiamuangana Mateta

Verckys Kiamuangana Mateta is a musician (primarily saxophonist), composer, band leader, record producer, and music-business leader in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). While renowned as a talented and prolific musician, he is probably even more noteworthy as "the first indigenous African to own a record label" and for introducing many major Congolese artists to the world through his Veve recording studio and label.[1]

Biography

He was born as Georges Kiamuangana in Kisantu, in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo on 19 May 1944. He came from a wealthy family; his father was a businessman in Leopoldville (now Kinshasa). He learned music in the church. As a saxophonist, he adopted the name Verckys based on American saxophone player King Curtis, hearing the name "Curtis" as "Verckys."[1]

He was once a member of the soukous band TPOK Jazz, led by François Luambo Makiadi, which dominated the Congolese music scene from the 1950s through the 1980s.[2]

In 1969, Verckys Kiamuangana left TPOK Jazz and formed his own band, Orchestre Vévé.[3] Verkys also managed two other bands, which he owned: Orchestre Kiam and Orchestre Lipua Lipua. Among the musicians who played for Verkys in the 1970s are Nyboma Mwandido and Pepe Kalle. During the early 1980s Verckys quit the music scene, to pursue other interests.[4]

In 2015, Sterns Music released in MP3 form much of the output of Verckys's Éditions Vévé record label (the blog post announcing this includes a good biography of Verckys).[5]

Discography
Compilations
  • Verckys & L'Orchestre Veve, Congolese Funk, Afrobeat and Psychedelic Rumba 1969 - 1978 (2014, Analog Africa)
  • Verckys, Edition Veve 1969-1972 (2015, Sterns)
  • Verckys, Edition Veve 1972-1978 (2015, Sterns)
  • Verckys, Edition Veve 1969-1978 (2015, Sterns)
  • Verckys, Edition Veve 1972-1975 (2015, Sterns)
Contributing artist

See also

References
  1. Johnston, Alastair. "Verckys & Veve: a critical discography". www.muzikifan.com. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  2. Kiamuangana Mateta Was A Saxophonist With TPOK Jazz In The 1960s Archived 2014-02-26 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Verckys Kiamuangana Founded Orchestre Veve In 1969
  4. Verckys Kiamuangana Was An Accomplished Saxophonist And Astute Businessman
  5. "Sterns Music: Verckys & Editions Veve International: The most comprehensive digital reissue of the Éditions Vévé catalogue yet undertaken". Sterns Music. 2 April 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2019.


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