Taxi Pata Pata
TAXI PATA PATA, the critically acclaimed and popular SOUKOUS performers, are led by the charismatic NSIMBA FOGGIS BITENDI.
In 1983 "After several years of struggling in my mother-land lacking promotion" singer Nsimba Foggis Bitendi left Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) for the UK. Two years later he formed Taxi Pata Pata, who have now released 2 albums, performed at most of the major venues that host African music, as well as many festivals in the UK and Europe.
Classique have used Taxi Pata Pata for a couple of major corporate events and parties with great success, with all clients joining in and enjoying the wonderful atmospheric music.
Their music is described as a "a fusion of contemporary and traditional music from Zaire". The music is traditional in a more recent sense, in that it has a typical guitar led soukous sound. With soukous being the de-facto national music of the DRC, it is not surprising to hear Bitendi describe himself as "my country's ambassador". Leader of Taxi Pata Pata and solo artist, Nsimba specialises in soukous - dance music he describes as "Tropicale African", a fusion of African rhythms and instruments with a modern pop sensibility.
Described as "wildly danceable", Taxi Pata Pata's music consists of congas and djembe drums, and of bass guitar, keyboards, flute and horns. Singing mostly in Lingala and French, Nsimba creates images of traditional and powerful scenes from a wild and beautiful continent.
Taxi Pata Pata has been described by Andy Kershaw as "the best African band in the country' and we wouldn't disagree, as one partygoer from an event said to us ' I closed my eyes and I was there, just felt the rhythm and went for it!!'.
