Robson Banda (vocals, guitar. Died: 1998)
Job Mteswa (Died: 1996)
Biggie Phiri (Died: 2000)
John Chivere (guitar)
Daniel Zande (Died: 1998)
Along with his brother Biggie, Robson Banda is one of the many Congolese musicians in Zimbabwe. He has worked with various bands, including Jonah
Moyo & Devera Ngwena (with which he played bass for two years), Thomas Mapfumo & the Acid Band, and James Chimombe. Despite originally hailing from the Congo, and being born in Zambia, Robson and his band, the New Black Eagles, play a style much closer to chimurenga than soukous or rhumba. Robson has worked many Zimbabwean elements into his music, including mbira-based guitar licks and the shona language. Not only has the time he spent in Thomas Mapfumo's Acid band become a great influence, but the popular jit of Zimbabwe has as well. Ever since he released Tauya Ne Zimbabwe in 1979 with the New Black Eagles, Banda has managed to mix Zimbabwean guitar-based dance music with the mbria-based chimurenga of Zimbabwe's liberation struggle.
Accordingly, Mapfumo's ZimBob label released a Greatest Hits compilation in 1994. Robson Banda died in 1999. Guitarist John Chivere, the sole surviving member, plans to re-assemble the Black Eagles with new musicians and continue making music.
