Congo Vibes

Pline Mounzeo is a super-star of Congolese drumming who lives in Raleigh, NC. Born in Brazzaville, Congo, he learned to drum from his uncle. As he was finishing high school, civil war broke out and his father was assassinated. Pline was forced to flee the country and went to Senegal, where he trail-blazed music combining Congolese and Senegalese elements. His group toured widely in Africa and Europe and he did creative work separately with the mixed performance group, Eolo Association, of Lyons, France.
In 2008 he came to the U.S. to join the well-established dance troupe Bichini Bia Congo in Ann Arbor as lead drummer. In 2009 he joined family in Raleigh to become a free lance performer. He continues to do performances out of town in the U.S. and France but mostly he is enjoyed locally

Pline’s Local Venues
• Cultural presentations for local schools in Durham and Orange County. He successfully competed for a CAPS artist grant from the Durham Arts Council, which supports these participatory shows.

• Kwanzaa celebration in Durham
• Durham Arts Council
• Hayti Center, Durham
• Door-to-door program UNC Hospitals
• Cultural festivals around the state
• Weddings
• Hand Made Parade, Hillsborough
• Local businesses such as Oasis in Carrboro, Vegan Flava Café, Weaver St. Market
• Seymour Center, Chapel Hill
• Public and private schools
• Parties
• Duke University, guest artist in Afro-Cuban and Djembe ensemble concert
• Lead drum for visiting dance instructors

A few years ago, Pline wrote the music for his album Bou Nzenza and got together the artists to record it. Bou Nzenza means “foreign”. At the time, Pline still felt like a foreigner here. Now he is a U.S. Citizen, a foreigner no longer. These are songs accompanied by traditional Congolese rhythms. Check them out!