Ngoma (record label)

Ngoma
Founded	1948
Founder	Nicolas Jéronimidis
Status	Defunct
Genre	African music
Country of origin	Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Location	Léopoldville (now Kinshasa)

The "Trio Bow" recording of "akeyi na zandu" (1956) on Ngoma

Old Congolese 78 rpm records. The three on the lower left are examples of Ngoma discs.

Ngoma was one of the first record labels intended to provide local African music to the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The name Ngoma came from the Kikongo word for drum. The label was created in 1948 by the Greek businessman Nicolas Jéronimidis, and was active until 1968. Its catalog included many known artists at that time including Camille Feruzi, who is said to have popularized rumba during the 1930s, Antoine Wendo Kolosoy, one of the biggest names of all-time in Congolese music, the Angolan Manuel d'Oliveira, Léon Bukasa, Antoine Mundanda, Paul Mwanga and Albert Luampasi, the guitarist who is said to taught François Luambo Makiadi his first guitar chords.

References

• Gary Stewart (2000). Rumba on the River: A History of the Popular Music of the Two Congos. Verso. ISBN 978-1-85984-368-0.

See also

• List of record labels