NIWEL TSUMBU has appeared live on RTÉ TV ‘The View’ and live instudio on national and regional radio including RTE Radio One's Eleventh Hour, Spectrum & Arena, on Newstalk and Today FM. He has been interviewed for Hot Press magazine and he has featured prominently in national and local newspapers including The Irish Times, magazines and online.

 

A SELECTION OF ALBUM & LIVE REVIEWS

“There’s something about Tsumbu’s native language, Lingala that has infused the Congolese guitarist and singer with a spellbinding fluency....Tsumbu’s confident juxtaposition of clarinet and guitar, insistent percussion and declamatory vocals trace a path that’s all his own...tribal rhythms and transcendent male harmonies declare Tsumbu’s intention to carve a niche nobody else has even dreamt of”
IRISH TIMES 4/5 stars Song of the Nations album review April 2009

“Antidotes to the recession don’t come much more potent than this. Niwel Tsumbu’s indomitable, infectious spirit invaded the intimate confines of Whelan’s before his first song had evaporated. Tsumbu takes his audience on a journey of discovery that traverses the peaks and troughs of life’s unpredictable terrain with startling precision. He gives full rein to a sweep of syncopated rhythms that have many punters grasping and gasping to keep up.”
IRISH TIMES, Live review of Song of the Nations album launch, March 2009

“Tsumbu’s guitar playing is nothing short of exceptional and the wall of sound that hits you once you press play is infectious. If you’re one of the many unfortunate ones who can’t afford a holiday this year, pick up Song of the Nations and experience the world from the comfort of your armchair”
HOT PRESS, Song of the Nations album review, April 2009

“His superb, percussive guitar style is always at the fore, punctuating each song with energy and fluidity, always skirting a half dozen genres and ultimately imitating none. He invokes Django Reinhardt and George Benson; he plays flamenco, rock and rumba simultaneously. He can run a speedy melodic flurry of notes that ends in a scraping percussion solo of plucks and scratches on the strings.This is a fully thought out, expansive work, full of surprises and pleasures.”
ROOTS WORLD, Song of the Nations album, review 2010