Henri Bowane (1926–1992) was an influential figure in the development of Congolese rumba in the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The furor drove Wendo out of Kinshasa, and resulted in a brief imprisonment by the Belgian authorities in Stanleyville and his excommunication from the Catholic Church.
Wendo's time on the ferries also contributed to his success as one of the first "national" artists of the DRC: he learned the music of the ethnic groups up and down the river, and later sang not only in his native tongue of Kikongo, but also in fluent Lingala and Swahili.
Jéronimidis and the musicians, barnstormed around Belgian Congo in a brightly painted Ngoma van, performing and selling records.
Bowane became the dominant musical influence on the label as he moved out of centre stage and into the role of producer, writer, and owner-impresario of the premier nightclub of Leopoldville, Quint.
[3] Bowane is remembered as the most successful African musician of his time: he reputed to have been the first black man in Belgian Congo to own a Cadillac.