The sun has set on one of our brightest lights. A great source of wisdom, stability, strength and love, Ma Boukaka's spirit has taken flight. He now watches over us, guiding us from the great beyond.
Matondo... The family of Thomas Boukaka wishes to express heartfelt appreciation for the outpouring of love and support in the days since Ma Boukaka's passing. Your calls, visits, heart-warming memories and kind expressions have been a great comfort during this difficult time.
For those who were not able to attend his funeral on April 3, 2010, who would like to pay their respects, Ma Boukaka is interred under a cypress tree, with a beautiful view of the Pacific, at Skylawn Memorial Park, 10600 Skyline Blvd., San Mateo, CA 94402.
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Ma Thomas Boukaka was the founder of Bole Bantu, a performing group that plays original music fusing American and Congolese traditions. He taught beginning drum classes - including childrens' classes - for over 30 years in Menlo Park and East Palo Alto, CA. ("Ma" is an honorific given to our respected elder teachers).
Ma Boukaka is from the Congo, Brazzaville, in Central Africa. Born in the bush, he grew up between village and town, although Brazzaville was really only a large village at the time. He learned to drum by tapping out rhythms in the jungle with his friends. At 14 he left the village to work as a cook in Brazzaville. He eventually became a pisteur (guide, hunter and cook) for a French safari company in Northern Congo and Gabon. There he met Alan Baer, a young American who offered to bring him to the U.S.A. Ma Boukaka accepted and came to the San Francisco Bay Area to work as a cook for Alan's mother. That was in 1959, the year before Congo and much of Central and West Africa gained their independence from the French.
In 1977, together with Malonga Casquelourd, he formed Fua Dia Congo, the Congolese Dance Company of the Bay Area. Since that time, Ma Boukaka has performed in many shows produced by the Congolese artistic community. These shows reflect the culture and heritage of Congolese village life, a culture deeply rooted in family and community. Since 1982 he has taught beginning drumming at the Congolese Dance & Drum Workshops.
In 1982 he began a weekly Congolese drum class in Palo Alto and Menlo Park. Around the same time he took up interest in the bass guitar and began jamming at music sessions with his friend, the late Norman Fontaine and various other musicians. Out of these sessions the Rainbow Band evolved and performed at Peninsula School and Ridge Winery. In those days of playing music, Ma Boukaka met Tony Pratt, a rock guitarist who liked the Congolese rhythms, and songs that Ma Boukaka was creating out of both personal and traditional roots. A new band emerged from this Congolese-American Rock marriage - Bole Bantu. They have played at Club Afrique in Palo Alto, the Full Moon Salon in San Francisco, and at Peninsula School and Ridge Winery. Bole Bantu means "two people," but it also means "two people together are better than one," a sentiment deeply felt by Ma Boukaka.
