Editions Esengo
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 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).
Editions Esengo
- Name
- Editions Esengo
- Headquarters
- Editions Esengo is situated in Belgian Congo.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
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 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).
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Editions Esengo. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q15964666 · wikipedia · Editions Esengo
In this article
Overview
Overview
He established the enterprise by purchasing material from the recently defunct Opika 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 recording label, as Bowane brought with him such amazing talent as: Jean Serge Essous, Philippe Rossignol Lando, Saturnin Pandi, 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, 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.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Editions Esengo • Founded — 1956 • Founder — Dino Antonopoulos • Status — Defunct • Genre — African music • Country — Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) • Location — Léopoldville (now Kinshasa)
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Editions Esengo is situated in Belgian Congo.
Country
Editions Esengo is associated with Belgian Congo.
Country
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q15964666: Editions Esengo
General reference · Wikidata
reference work
- “Editions Esengo”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority record
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
43,111 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Edith WiensPerson
- Edith WilsonPerson
- Edition LilacOrganisation
- Edition RecordsOrganisation
- Edmar CastañedaPerson
- Edmond AudranPerson
- Edmond BaillyPerson
- Edmond de CoussemakerPerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own an object connected with Editions Esengo?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.