Staff Benda Bilili

About

Composed of four paraplegics that reside on the zoo grounds in Kinshasa, Congo, and a rhythm section of street youth the band took under its wing, Staff Benda Bilili is the type of band that begs for a documentary to be made about it. Fittingly, the band was discovered by Belle Kinoise while he was directing his documentary "Jupiter's Dance" and the director has been the band's primary manager ever since. The band's performances alone command attention, with the four frontmen sitting on decked out tricycles rather than on wheelchairs, playing their instruments and singing with complete fervor.