About Rock’a Mambo
Rock’a Mambo was a very popular Congolese band created in 1957 in Leopoldville in the Belgian Congo, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The collaboration started when Henri Bowane partnered with Greek entrepreneur Constantin Antopnopoulos to create a new record label, named Esengo (Happiness) in end-1956. After their first EP releases, the Esengo band musicians named their group Rock’a Mambo. The Kikongo term determines a person who went away from his town or village in search of fortune, and found it, and came back home.
The band was known for its Congolese adaptation of the cha-cha music style from Cuban origin. It also inspired a lot of musicians and influenced the course of African music beyond Leopoldville. For instance, it painfully gave birth to Orchestre Bantou, one of the greatest in African music history.
Maria Valencia by Band Rock’a Mambo, circa 1958.
Jump to:
About Rock’a Mambo
The birth of Rock’a Mambo
First defection
Second Defection, and Actually Dislocation
A Bland Resurrection & Legacy
Timeline
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