NGOZI FAMILY Archives - Guerssen Records

Day Of Judgement

GuerssenAdmin — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 23:00:00 +0000

Repressed. “Proto-punk and garage Zamrock: the celebrated guitarist Paul Ngozi’s essential debut album. Featuring Chrissy Zebby Tembo. Guitarist/vocalist Paul Ngozi’s debut album ? under the name Ngozi Family – is an important record: not just in the Zamrock genre, but in the global rock canon. Day of Judgement is an introduction to the most intense, raw and inimitable golden era Zamrock recorded, as it paved the way for a dozen Paul Ngozi and Ngozi Family releases (the most famous being drummer Chrissy Zebby Tembo’s My Ancestors) that straddled the line between funk and punk, of driving hard rock and Zambian folk melodies and rhythms. Day of Judgement was released in 1976, the same year as other, now famous, Zamrock albums, from WITCH’s Lazy Bones!! to Rikki Ililonga’s Zambia. But it sounds like none of its counterparts. Part of that stems from its frenzied primitivism, the Ngozi Family’s attempt to overcome a lack of musical acumen with sheer force of will. That will allowed Paul Ngozi to overcome a humble upbringing to become the most unlikely combination: Zamrock’s most beloved star in its brief but now-well chronicled arc; the only musician to maintain his fame and recording prowess in the dark ages of the ’80s; an inspiration to not only aging but young Zambians — and now others, beyond Zambia’s borders. But one cannot imagine Paul Ngozi without this album, a full-on aural assault that sounds as wild nearly forty years after its release as it must have sounded in the developing Zamrock landscape from which it emerged. We listen to this anachronistic yet prescient album now as a wholly original, completely unpredictable album in line with those from mavericks from across the world – from the Ramones to the Sex Pistols to Death. And, though it’s been over two decades since Paul Ngozi’s passing, his voice and vision still seem exciting, powerful, unique, unvarnished, new.”

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45000 volts

GuerssenAdmin — Wed, 21 Feb 2024 23:00:00 +0000

Hold on! Ngozi Family! We are a Zambian band, with a heavy sound!
Archival reissue of Paul Ngozi’s hard-edged, proto-punk, mid-1970s Zamrock masterwork. Featuring Chrissy Zebby Tembo.
First official reissue.

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99% Confusion

GuerssenAdmin — Sun, 25 Aug 2024 22:00:00 +0000

Zamrock was a bona-fide rock scene, with albums released through independent labels based in Zambia. This music scene was complete, encompassing the genres of rock, acid folk, fusion, Afro-beat, South African jazz and traditional Zambian melodies. It quickly became a uniquely Zambian movement, befitting of its name. WITCH, Paul Ngozi and Amanaz sound nothing like other rock music from the African continent or elsewhere.

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Heavy Connection

GuerssenAdmin — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 23:00:00 +0000

A hard rock mash up – Bandleader Paul Ngozi’s split album with his drummer and co-vocalist Chrissy Zebby Tembo. The set includes an oversized 8 page booklet detailing Ngozi’s arc, rare photographs, discography and annotations.

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