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Fiston Lusambo
Fiston’s real name is Ngoy Lusambo
His other music name is Fils a papa which means a son who has followed the same career as his Dad because Fiston is the son of a big well-known musician called Depuissant Yaka. He used to play Conga and guitar in a big band known internationally called AFRICAN-JAZZ with Grand Kalle,Manu Dibangu, and Docteur Niko who was a great guitarist who created Congolese lead guitar playing style is well known in all Africa.
LADI-MBALA
His real name is Emmanuel first name and Maleso surname. Ladi Mbala is his music name.
Ladi plays rhythm guitar he started his career in 1972 in a band called Tout Puissant Zembe-Zembe this band was competing with Tout Puissant OK JAZZ of Franco a Congolese guitarist well-known internationally .then Ladi moved to another band called Tout Choc Banita in1974, joined BIG STARS of Defao in 1980 they invented a dance called Ndombolo, Ladi has played also in a band called BAYIKE this band was a part of KIAM a well-known band created by Verckys Kiamuangana then he joined Kanda Bongo in UK now Ladi Mbala is a member of Zong Zing All Stars.
DECLO
His real name is BULA MUSHY, he is a great bass guitar player, and he picked his bass style playing from conga so when Declo plays you can feel the Congo from his bass guitar.
His first band was called LAS-VEGAS they used to play at Cabaret Liyoto a venue which was owned by a Belgium priest called pere Buffalo that venue had promoted many young talents in Congo, then he moved to a band called MINZOTO WELLA-WELLA in 1985 then later joined SIM-SIM of Simbard in 1987, later went to play with a very famous Congolese singer called Madiata with his band called BISENGO,in 1996 he joined another band called CHOC-STARS where he used to play along with Burkina Faso, then he moved again to a band called BIG-STARS where he played along with Ladi-Mbala
Milli Moonstone
Milli’s musical journey began at a young age, studying western classical voice, flute and violin from 7 to 17 years old. During this time she sang and played in various county and national choirs, orchestras and ensembles, and wrote pop songs on the keyboard.
It was at SOAS that Milli met and studied Congolese guitar with Fiston Lusambo. They re-established a connection in October 2006, when Fiston invited Milli to learn some traditional Congolese songs for a gig. This reunion marked the start of the Zongzing All Stars coming together.
Gianni
Gianni is a great singer, he started to sing very young ,Gianni can make you happy from his way of singing. His first band was La Vasano band which he was the leader and creator in 1981 and played his first concert at Cabaret Liyoto in Kinshasa (DRC Congo) then moved to La Genava in 1984 after this band, in 1986 he joined Historia Musica of Debaba a great Congolese singer who attracted Gianni by his singing style, then later moved to Les Fleurons de Matonge in 1988 but he did not last long in this band then he was asked to join Rumba Ray of Maray Maray which was a great band then in 1989 he moved to a band called Litonge Bouge,later he joined Veritable Emporio in 1990 and left and went to a band called Tambour le Vallois which he was the main singer in 1991.
In 1994 he joined Big Star of Defao, after this band he created another band called La Musica Number One. In 1995 he was singing in a band called Eden Musica de Lingwala in Kinshasa, then he left Congo and moved to Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania where he continued his career of singing then left and moved in to the UK in the middle of 2001 he played lots of Gigs in the whole of the UK in cafes, halls, festivals and charities concerts. he backed a lot of Congolese singers like Papa Wemba, Bozi Boziana, Koffi Olomide, Litabembo, Safroman ………….
Influences
Grand Master Franco Luambo Makiadi, Joseph Kabasele “Le Grande Kalle”, Papa Wembe, Bozi Boziana, Koffi Olomide, Litabembo, Safroman, Kanda Bongo Man, Wenge Musica, Manu Dibangu.
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Welcome to the myspace page of the ZongZing All Stars!
We are a band that play music from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), formerly known as Zaire. The type of music we play is called 'Soukous' music – it is very dancable music characterised by intricate guitar picking styles, and in this band there are three guitarists. The section of the music that is the most dancable and uplifting is called the 'Seben', where the guitar picking, irrestible rhythms, sublime vocal harmonies create a barely suppressed europhoria – arguably one of the music infectiously dancable forms of music in the world!
The Democratic Republic of Congo has a rich musical heritage and different sounds. Rumba music is very similar to the sound of Cuban music, and indeed cuban music evolved in the exchange of drum rhythms that travelled the atlantic shipping roots. From Rumba, Cha Cha Cha, evolved the uniquely Congolese sound of Soukous, pioneered by Grand Master Franco Luambo Makiadiwith his “OK Jazz”, and Joseph Kabasele “Le Grande Kalle” with African Jazz.
This is music to play on a sunny day at a festival, this music will get everDONOTBLOCKOURADSybody dancing and in a happy mood.
The ZongZing All Stars have performed at The Bethnal Green Working Men's Club, Amnesty International, The Pleasure Unit, The Others (Stoke Newington), amongst other venues, and have been scheduled for some festivals this summer. The above demo is a live recording recorded at The Others - rehearsal space.
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History of the Democratic Republic of Congo
The congo was a colony of Belgium until it achieved independence in 1960. Under Belgium administration, vast infrastructure was built to extract the natural resources of the area, mostly rubber. There was huge deforestation and exploitation of indegenous people – by 1908 between 5 and 15 million died as a consequence of disease and exploitation. In the early 20th century, although conditions for the people had improved, there was still vast social inequality. Through social struggle, independence was achieved in 1960, with Patrice Lumumba winning parliamentary elections. However, the ensuing years where politically unstable, leading to a CIA backed coup in which the socialist elected Lumumba was assassinated and Mobutu, a Lieutentant General, being installed in power. Mobutu was financially backed by Belgium through them retaining lucrative mining contracts, and by the CIA from their aversion to communist and leftist ideology.
In 1971 Mobutu renamed the country Zaire. He established a one party state and has been accused of gross human rights violations, political repression and creating a cult of personality in the country.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, relations cooled between Mobutu and Western governments, as he was no longer a necessary cold war ally, allowing opposition groups to step up demands for reform. This has led to a protracted period of civil war. Fighting caused Mobutu to flee the country in 1997, whereby the country was renamed The Congo. It is estimated that over 4 million people lost their lives in this period of conflict
In July 2006 the country's first multi-party elections since 1960 where held, with Joseph Kabila being elected. Amongst civil unrest, fighting and repression, a fragile government is being maintained.
Despite the political troubles in the Congo, the quality and beauty of the music shines through, and out of years of civil unrest, the people of the Congo prove there is always light by playing the most joyous and uplifting music.
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