Kolinga

Around the singer, author and composer Rébecca M’Boungou, Kolinga has been developing from France a repertoire where soul, jazz, acoustic groove, chanson, and Central African influences, notably Bantou, intersect. The project, performed live on stage in a collective formation, rests on writing that links the intimate to the political, with lyrics shaped by questions of memory, transmission, emancipation and ecology. Kolinga's music is characterized by flexible arrangements, a strong emphasis on percussion, brass, keyboards and backing vocals, as well as by a central voice that articulates the narratives with great clarity. Rébecca M’Boungou brings together musicians from diverse backgrounds, including Jérôme Martineau Ricotti, Jérémie Poirier Quinot, Johary Rakotondramasy, Joël Riffard and Vianney Desplantes, giving the group a stage identity nourished by collective listening and dialogue between timbres. Kolinga released the Earthshine album in 2022, after several years of development on contemporary music stages and in contexts where jazz, world music and chanson formats meet. The name Kolinga, linked to Lingala, also illuminates the project in its principle of circulation between languages, heritage, and sensitivities, without ever separating melodic work from its narrative dimension.