Vicky Longomba

Vicky Longomba has played an important role in the evolution of Zaire's music. As the co-president of OK Jazz, Longomba joined with Jean Serge Essous and Franco Luambo Makiadi to create Zaire's first dance band. Leaving OK Jazz, along with Essous, to join the rival group, African Jazz, in the early-'60s, Longomba continued to lay the foundations of the Congolese rumba movement. He continued to pioneer new musical group in the early-'70s with his own band, Orchestre Lovy. ~ Craig Harris