Niwel Tsumbu

Nylon string guitar maestro Niwel Tsumbu is a hell of an accomplished player. Throughout Milimo, his tunes sound complex yet are impeccably performed; each song feels like a polished gem, with nothing superfluous or surplus to requirements. What a lovely thing this album is.

Watch the video for Kanzenzenze, the new single from Congolese-born, Ireland-based guitarist Niwel Tsumbu; it’s the first in a series of Congolese folk song arrangements Tsumbu will be releasing.

Listen to Atlantean, the rhythmically pulsating, infectious debut single from Pontún, an Irish-based quartet embracing folk traditions from Ireland and Africa featuring Éamonn Galldubh, Robbie Harris, Niwel Tsumbu and Steve Cooney.

Our Song of the Day is the debut single from Jiggy. ‘Laethanta Saoire’ is a tune that was composed in the 90s by the legendary guitarist Steve Cooney. Although the band have played it many times it has never been recorded or released… until now that is!

Our Song of the Day comes by way of a debut music video for Kabembe, taken from Irish-based Congolese guitarist Niwel Tsumbu’s forthcoming new album due out in August. We’ll be bringing you more on this album soon, in the meantime enjoy his band RiZA.

This is what happens when you have a chat down the pub and decide to mix traditional Irish music with hip hop beats from the 1990s. Meet Jiggy: Daire Bracken (fiddle) Éamonn Galldubh (pipes), Niwel Tsumbu (guitar), Anttoin Bracken (guitar), Robbie Harris (percussion) and DJayzus on decks…and occasional guests including Beatboxer MIC Bandit.

Congolese artist Niwel Tsumbu moved to Ireland in 2004. Like Liam O’Maonlaí he has continued to explore many strands of music and their eventual collaboration seemed inevitable. Watch them performing on Donal Dineen’s late night show The Small Hours.