The OK Jazz band was formed in 1956 in Léopoldville (now Kinshasa), in what was at the time known as the Belgian Congo, later as Zaire and today as the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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The band started to fall apart with the defection of Malage de Lugendo and Dizzy and Decca who returned to Kinshasa to pursue other opportunities.
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They used to play at Loningisa Studios in Kinshasa as individual artists, before they got together to form a band in June 1956.
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In 1979 Franco moved his recording base from Kinshasa to Brussels, Belgium to take advantage of superior recording facilities.
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He was a member of the soukous band TPOK Jazz, led by François Luambo Makiadi, which dominated the Congolese music scene from the 1950s through the 1980s.
He was once a member of the soukous band TPOK Jazz, led by François Luambo Makiadi, which dominated the Congolese music scene from the 1950s through the 1980s.
In 1983, in Kinshasa, Empompo and his friend from TPOK Jazz, Sam Mangwana, together with singer Ndombe Opertun, who had recently left TPOK Jazz, formed the band Tiers Monde Coopération.
After he left TPOK Jazz in May 1977, Youlou formed Trois Frères with Loko Massengo, Mose Fan Fan, Michel Boyibanda and others.