Manu Dibango
Manu Dibango (Emmanuel N'Djoké Dibango, born December 12 1933 in Douala, Cameroon) is a Cameroonian saxophonist and vibraphone player. He developed a musical style fusing jazz and traditional Cameroonian music. He is a member of the Yabassi ethnic group, though his mother was a Duala.
He has collaborated with many musicians, including Fania All Stars, Fela Kuti, Herbie Hancock, Bill Laswell, Bernie Worrell, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Don Cherry, and Sly and Robbie. In 1998 he recorded the album CubAfrica with Cuban artist Eliades Ochoa .
His Soul Makossa is often considered the first disco record (Jones and Kantonen, 1999). The song of the same name on that record contains the lyrics "makossa", (means "I dance" in the African language Duala), which has influenced several popular music hits, including Michael Jackson's "Wanna be Startin' Somethin" and the Fugees' "Cowboys".
He served as the first chairman of the Cameroon Music Corporation, with a high profile in disputes about artists' royalties. Dibango was appointed a UNESCO Artist for Peace in 2004.[1][2]
Partial discography
- Soul Makossa (1972) Unidisc
- O Boso (1973) London/PolyGram Records
- Makossa Man (1974) Atlantic Records
- Makossa Music (1975)
- Manu 76 (1976) Decca/PolyGram Records
- Super Kumba (1976) Decca/PolyGram Records
- A l'Olympia (1978) Fiesta Records
- Afrovision (1978) Mango/Island/PolyGram Records
- Sun Explosion (1978) Decca/PolyGram Records
- Gone Clear (1980) Mango/Island/PolyGram Records
- Waka Juju (1982) Polydor/PolyGram Records
- Mboa (1982) Sonodisc/Afrovision
- Ambassador (1981) Mango/Island/PolyGram Records
- Electric Africa (1985) Celluloid
- Afrijazzy (1986)
- Deliverance (1989) Afro Rhythmes
- Happy Feeling (1989) Stern's
- Rasta Souvenir (1989) Disque Esperance
- Polysonik (1992)
- Live '91 (1994) Stern's Music
- Wakafrika (1994) Giant/Warner Bros. Records
- CubAfrica (with Eliades Ochoa) (1998)
Notes
- ^ Ernest Kanjo, Cameroonian musicians seem to have lost their creative acumen in their endless battles over money, Post newsmagazine, Sept 2006 accessed at[1] April 5, 2007
- ^ Manu Dibango designated UNESCO Artist for Peace
References
- Jones, Alan and Kantonen, Jussi (1999) Saturday Night Forever: The Story of Disco. Chicago, Illinois: A Cappella Books. ISBN 1-55652-411-0.
External links
- Official Web Site
- "Manu Dibango" World Music Legends
- Biography of Manu Dibango, from Radio France Internationale
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