Manu Dibango

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Manu Dibango (2019)

Manu Dibango (actually: Emmanuel N'Djoké Dibango , born December 12, 1933 in Douala , Cameroon ; † March 24, 2020 in Paris ) was a Cameroonian saxophonist , vibraphonist , pianist and singer . He developed his own style of music by combining jazz with traditional Cameroonian music and the popular Cameroonian dance music Makossa .

Live and act

Manu Dibango was born in Douala in a Protestant environment. Like his father, he belonged to the Yabassi ethnic group , while his mother was a Duala . As a student in Chartres during the 1950s , he discovered jazz for himself and learned to play the piano . In Reims , where he was preparing for his baccalaureate , he began playing the saxophone and began performing in nightclubs, to the great annoyance of his father, who then cut his livelihood in 1956.

Various contracts took him to Brussels , where he met his future wife Coco, to Antwerp and Charleroi . During this time, his jazz style "Africanized" through contact with the Congolese milieu that arose in Belgium as a result of immigration from the Democratic Republic of the Congo before and after its independence in 1960. Joseph Kabasélé engaged him for his orchestra Le Grand Kallé et l'African Jazz and recorded with him numerous records, which had great success in Africa and took them to Léopoldville , where Dibango made the twist popular in 1962 . The return to Cameroon, however, proved difficult and Manu Dibango went to France again.

He had engagements with Dick Rivers and Nino Ferrer , big names of the time, but it was only after 1969 that he was able to build on his African successes with recordings of his own compositions.

Dibango died on March 24, 2020 in a French hospital at the age of 86 of complications from COVID-19 . He was buried on March 29th in Paris.

Soul Makossa

In 1972 he hit the charts in the United States with Soul Makossa (actually the B-side of the single Mouvement Ewondo ) . It was the first number one hit by an African musician in the USA, which prompted Dibango to go on a first tour, on which he was able to make numerous contacts with black musicians in the country. Inspired by African tribal music and, in contrast, by European church sounds, animated by jazz and soul from America, he succeeded with the album, according to the London magazine City Limits, as "smooth, effective dance club music with grippy saxophone trim". He fused traditional Cameroon rhythms, Nigerian highlife pop, Congolese folk , Latin American cha-cha-cha and funk , reggae , hip-hop and bebop jazz sounds.

With Soul Makossa , the Makossa music style also became known outside of Cameroon. In addition, some consider the piece to be groundbreaking for the emergence of disco music . The chorus "mama-se, mama-sa, ma-ma-ko-ssa" was used by Michael Jackson in 1982 in his song Wanna Be Startin 'Somethin' , and in 2006 in the also successful song Don't Stop the Music by Rihanna ; Manu Dibango filed copyright lawsuits against both singers. The song was also sampled on the 1997 album The Carnival by Wyclef Jean .

This started a career that made him known worldwide. The boom in world music in the 1990s in particular boosted his popularity and led him on numerous tours. Manu Dibango has worked with numerous musicians over the course of his career, including Fela Kuti , Herbie Hancock , Bill Laswell , Bernie Worrell , Youssou N'Dour and the reggae musicians Sly & Robbie . In 2013 he presented his memoirs under the title Balade en saxo dans les coulisses de ma vie (Éditions de l'Archipel).

In 2006 he received the Africa Festival Award from the Africa Festival Würzburg for his musical life's work .

Social Commitment

Throughout his entire career, Dibango campaigned intensively for the interests of the African continent and endeavored to promote cultural exchange. In 2004 he was awarded the title “Artist for Peace” by UNESCO .

Choice of discography

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
Soul Makossa
  US 79 08/18/1973 (13 weeks)
Singles
Soul Makossa
  US 35 07/28/1973 (9 weeks)
  • Soul Makossa (1972) Unidisc
  • O Boso (1973) Polygram Records
  • Makossa Man (1974) Atlantic Records
  • Makossa Music (1975)
  • Manu 76 (1976) PolyGram Records
  • Super Kumba (1976) Decca Records / PolyGram Records
  • Ceddo OST (1977) Fiesta Records
  • A l'Olympia (1978) Fiesta Records
  • Afrovision (1978) Mango Records / Island / PolyGram Records
  • Sun Explosion (1978) Decca / PolyGram Records
  • Gone Clear (1980) Mango Records / Island / PolyGram Records
  • Ambassador (1981) Mango Records / Island / PolyGram Records
  • Waka Juju (1982) Polydor / PolyGram Records
  • Mboa (1982) Sonodisc / Afrovision
  • Electric Africa (1985) Celluloid Records
  • Afrijazzy (1986)
  • Deliverance (1989) Afro Rhythmes
  • Happy Feeling (1989) Stern's Africa
  • Rasta Souvenir (1989) Disque Esperance
  • Polysonics (1992)
  • Live '91 (1994) Stern's Music
  • Wakafrika (1994) Giant Records / Warner Bros. Records
  • African Soul - The very best of Manu Dibango (1997) Mercury (France) / PolyGram
  • CubAfrica (with Eliades Ochoa ) (1998)
  • Gone Clear (1998)
  • Mboa 'Su (2000) (JPS Production)
  • Manu Dibango joue Sidney Bechet - Hommage à la Nouvelle-Orléans (2007) Cristal Records
  • Past Present Future (2011)
  • Balade en saxo (2013)

literature

  • Alan Jones, Jussi Cantons: Saturday Night Forever: The Story of Disco . A Cappella Books, Chicago (Illinois) 1999, ISBN 1-55652-411-0 .
  • Manu Dibango, Danielle Rouard, Beth G. Raps: Three Kilos of Coffee: An Autobiography . Chicago: University of Chicago Press 1994, ISBN 0-226-14491-7 .

Web links

Commons : Manu Dibango  - collection of images, videos and audio files

swell

  1. ↑ According to the original of the birth announcement in Dibango's biography Three Kilos of Coffee (as Google Book)
  2. ↑ In Kunzler Jazzlexikon 2002 1934 is given.
  3. ↑ a b Le saxophoniste Manu Dibango est mort des suites du Covid-19, annoncent ses proches. In: lemonde.fr. March 24, 2020, accessed March 24, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Afro-jazz legend Manu Dibango succumbs to Covid-19. In: blick.de. March 24, 2020, accessed March 24, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Manu Dibango, Danielle Rouard: Three Kilos of Coffee - An Autobiography , translated by Beth G. Raps, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, p. 1
  6. ↑ Musician Manu Dibango died of consequences of the coronavirus . In: kleinezeitung.at, March 24, 2020, accessed on March 24, 2020.
  7. ^ Coronavirus: Manu Dibango buried, Davido's fiancé infected. africanews.com of March 29, 2020, accessed on March 29, 2020
  8. ↑ Simon Broughton; Mark Ellingham: World Music: The Rough Guide . 2000, p. 441
  9. ^ Barry Graves, Siegfried Schmidt-Joos, Bernward Halbscheffel: Rock-Lexikon. One-time special edition, Rowohlt-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Reinbek bei Hamburg 2003, vol. 1, p. 265
  10. ^ Piero Scaruffi : The History of Rock and Dance Music: 1970-1975 , 2003
  11. ↑ The Guardian: Rihanna and Michael Jackson sued by African singer February 4, 2009 (English)
  12. ↑ Africa Festival Award 2013
  13. ^ Afro-jazz musician Manu Dibango has died. In: rbb-online.de. March 24, 2020, accessed March 24, 2020 .
  14. ↑ a b Chart sources: US
personal data
SURNAME Dibango, Manu
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Dibango, Emmanuel N'Djoké (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Cameroonian saxophonist, vibraphonist, pianist and singer
DATE OF BIRTH December 12, 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH Douala , Cameroon
DATE OF DEATH March 24, 2020
Place of death Paris