Staff Benda Bilili

Staff Benda Bilili is a group of Congolese street musicians who play a fusion of rumba, reggae, and vintage R&B. Formed by Ricky Likabu and Coco Ngambali, the band consists of four middle-aged paraplegics, all of whom were confined to wheelchairs after suffering polio as children, as well as several younger members. Roger Landu, who joined the group as a teenager, acts as a lead guitarist of sorts, playing instrumental solos on a one-string electric he built out of a tin can. The other younger members comprise the rhythm section. Initially, Staff Benda Bilili practiced in th...