Niwel Tsumbu moved to Ireland in 2004 and his dextrous way of spinning magic from his guitar, with a style born out of his homeland music, Soukous and Rhumba, soon made him an integral part of the music scene here, playing with many local bands. He has already played the Cork and Bray Jazz Festivals, the Festival of World Cultures in Dún Laoghaire, Spiegeltent in Cork and the Bulmers World Music Festival. Now he’s gearing up to make his much-anticipated contribution to two of the most significant events in the upcoming series, The Reich Effect.

At first glance, you might think that the music of the Republic of Congo has little connection with that of Reich, but Niwel explains differently to Hot Press. “There is a definite connection,” he reflects, “because the music of Steve Reich is often based on repetition but with subtle bits added in as the piece goes on and that’s the same with the music I played at home. Reich himself spent time in Ghana and it’s possible that his music was influenced by the repetition he might have heard there. It’s that kind of hypnotic effect in the music that really appeals to me. Also, the rhythms that he uses would be very familiar to me back home. I suppose the main difference is that he’s coming to musical composition from a classical perspective.”
He also elaborates on how the general music scene in the Republic of Congo (in central Africa, in case you skipped school the day they were doing geography) differs from Ireland.
“International pop and rock music is not as dominant there as it is here,” he says. “For example, I’d never heard of Deep Purple, Bruce Springsteen, U2 or Led Zeppelin until I came to Ireland. People there might have heard of Mick Jagger, but they would have no sense of his being a big rock star like he is in Ireland. Pop is bigger, so Madonna and ABBA would be well-known there. This situation has the advantage that it allows more room for our own music to grow and be heard.”
This, you can imagine, is quite a revelation for those like me who assume that the entire planet is swamped by international rock and pop music and that the whole universe is agog at the doings of Bruce and Bono.
Niwel’s first appearance at the Reich Effect events will come when he performs an electric guitar solo for Reich’s composition Counterpoint, on a bill with Carolyn Goodwin, Fiona Kelly and Kate Ellis. He will follow that by joining the Crash Ensemble, who will perform two pieces by Reich, including 2 x 5.
Although he now lives in Co. Wicklow, these performances will no doubt cement Tsumbu’s relationship with the Cork community.
“I first came to Ireland as a visitor at the invitation of a friend. I was really surprised by the diverse music scene I found in Cork. Back home Soukous and Rhumba music are the main types of music that’s played in Kinshasa where I grew up. There is some other music, but you’d have to go looking for it. It’s not like the mix you get here. Until I came to Ireland I had heard no Irish music at all, except for one song, ‘Danny Boy’!
“But I soon started meeting musicians and playing with them and I really got to like it here. A lot of Irish musicians like the Ó Snodaighs in Kíla are open to all kinds of music which is very healthy. So now I’m lucky that I can dedicate my life to playing music.”
To finish, Niwel brings it all back home. “I’ve played with such great local musicians as Micheál Ó Súilleabháin, Liam Ó Maonlaí and Kíla,” he concludes, “but no matter who I play with or what music I play, there has to be some element of my homeland music that comes through in my playing. It’s embedded inside me forever. It’s part of what I am.”

Niwel Tsumbu plays the Cork Opera House with Carolyn Goodwin, Fiona Kelly and Kate Ellis on July 28.