Editions Esengo was a record studio in the Congo, which is noted for assembling to their label Rock-a-Mambo, African Jazz, and Conga Jazz, three of the great powerhouse bands of Congolese rumba. Esengo is taken from the

Lingala Lingala (or Ngala, Lingala: ) is a Bantu languages, Bantu language spoken in the northwest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the northern half of the Republic of the Congo, in their capitals, Kinshasa and Brazzaville, and to a lesser de ...

language, and is the word for "happiness" or "joy." In 1956, a Greek businessman, Dino Antonopoulos, sought to start a new music publishing firm in Leopoldville (

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ), formerly named Léopoldville from 1881–1966 (), is the Capital city, capital and Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-grow ...

). He established the enterprise by purchasing material from the recently defunct

Opika Opika was an early record label in the Congo Free State, Congo, which recorded and promoted African pop, guitar, and rumba - not only from the Congo, but from Cameroon and Ghana as well. The label also recognized the value of ethnographic recordin ...

record label and recruiting Loningisa guitarist and composer Henri Bowane to be artistic director of the firm. This proved to be a great blow to the

Loningisa Loningisa was a studio and record label based in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then known as Zaire). Loningisa was made famous by the emergence of the African rumba band OK Jazz, whose music became popular, and a big influenc ...

recording label, as Bowane brought with him such amazing talent as:

Jean Serge Essous Jean Serge Essous (1935 in Brazzaville – November 25, 2009, in Brazzaville) was a Congolese saxophonist, clarinetist, and cofounder of the Afrika Team in Paris, Bantous de la Capital in Brazzaville, OK Jazz and Orchestre Rock a Mambo. On 11 Oc ...

, Philippe Rossignol Lando,

Saturnin Pandi Saturnin Pandi (1932–1996) was a soukous recording artist, conga player, in the Republic of the Congo (Congo-Brazzaville) and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). He was one of the founding members of the soukous band TPOK Jazz, formed ...

, Liengo Honoré, Augustin Moniania "Roitelet." In 1957 Bowane was able to convince saxophonist Nino Malapet, then a player for Editions Loningisa and member of

OK Jazz OK Jazz, later renamed TPOK Jazz (short for ''Tout Puissant Orchestre Kinois de Jazz''), was a Congolese rumba band from the Democratic Republic of the Congo established in 1956 and fronted by Franco. The group disbanded in 1993. Location The OK ...

, to defect and join Essous and Rossignol, as well as other members of Esengo, to form Orchestre Rock-a-Mambo. Meanwhile, the Esengo firm managed to enlist Joseph Kabaselle's orchestra African Jazz as well as Paul "DeWayon" Ebengo's Conga Jazz creating a remarkable stable of performers.

References

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References

See also