Manu Dibango

The ‘Makossa man’ Emmanuel ‘Manu Dibango’ N’Jocke Dibango has sung many miles as a leading luminary and troubadour in the field of world music. World in the sense that it is music that is ‘intellectually’ distinguished from that of the west in the ‘centre versus the other’ or ‘west versus the rest’ divide advanced in a broad range of contemporary scholarship. I am tempted to join the chorus of schools that lay claim to such categorisation in the case of Dibango whose music breaks down generic borders in a centrifugal manner. I only plead to reflect through the problematic, of world music as that which is a fusion of musics from different geographical and cultural spaces not necessarily in terms of west versus other. African musicians due to historical, social, cultural, economic and political factors quite often find critical residence in the term world music due to the multi-cultural collage their works have to offer.

The success of the prodigious Cameroonian turned world citizen born seventy-three years ago is no surprise if we appreciate his work under the aegis of his eclectic repertoire. The bald Dibango (an older version of Wyclef Jean) was born in 1933 in the port city of Douala (formerly the Capital city of English speaking Cameroon after Germany relinquished its protectorate interest to England and France post 1918) and has leapt into different places with either sound or physical presence globally.

Dibango has collaborated with a who’s who list of musicians (including Lowell ‘Sly Dunbar’ Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare, Parliament/Funkadelic bassist William ‘Bootsy Collins’Collins and Herbert Jeffrey ‘Herbie Hancock’ Mwandishi Hancock) from all over the world and was one of the first from the continent to reap a global hit (visited later in this text) and also within the first to draw musical attention to the sounds of Cameroon in a global context. Though he is often classified as a Saxophonist, Dibango is equally talented with lyricism, the piano and Hammond B3 Organ.

With fellow countrymen Eboa Lotin, Toto Guillaume of the Black Styles, Misse Ngoh, Moni Bile, Alhadji Toure, Sam Fan Thomas and the elderly Francis Bebey he fostered the localization and subsequent internationalisation of the fast paced fused ‘Makossa’ genre another pride of Cameroon after the indomitable Lions. ‘Makossa’ in its structure was a hybrid of the percussive ‘high life’ from the West of Africa (Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Ghana) seeping into Douala through the Bight of Biafra and Soukouss from Congo into a mix of the local ‘ashiko’, ‘bikutsi’ ‘ambasse bey’ and ‘magambeu’ to orchestrate a complex but melodically captivating genre. The sanza, the marimba and the Sax in conspicuous presence within this blend of diverse stylistic traditions.

His work as a film score producer delivered wonderful sounds for the movies ‘L’Herbe Sauvage’, ‘Ceddo’ and ‘The Prince of Freedom’. He is also one large part of the vast Stern’s record catalogue owing to a consistent music release career that is characteristic of first pop generation African musicians.

Listening to the time tested disco influenced single ‘soul makossa’ (a fusion of Disco, Jazz and Makossa) a groundbreaking song from the Decca/Accord/Atlantic records album ‘Soul Makossa’ in 1973 greater focus should be placed on his career that has sustained the pile of tiles it takes to be a luminary. The single gained chart interest globally, peaking at no.79 on the Billboard singles chart in America.

Dibango’s musical safari emerged in infancy in Douala where he was exposed to a variety of traditional sounds. His background of mixed parentage (Yabassi father and Douala mother) exposed him to this diversity in both language and music and incidentally made his rethink a sense of belonging to one cultural group. His protestant church mistress mother brought him into direct contact with the classical traditions of church music though his thirst for a creative break loose from the normal led to a different bearing. The same reason he deviated from his parents’ educational objectives for sending him to an adopted family in France in 1949(France is one of three former colonial masters of Cameroon) after his course.

Francis Bebey, Dibango’s early partner

In the serene atmosphere of Saint Calais France where he tentatively embarked on study, Dibango made use of his spare time to develop and nurture an interest in a performing career influenced by the Jazz guru Edward Kennedy ‘Duke Ellington’ Ellington and Charles Christopher ‘Charlie Parker’ Parker jr. though the echoes of Congolese icon Joseph Tshamala ‘Grand Kalle’ Kabaselleh (of Surboum Jazz and African Jazz bands) were also appealing. Dibango’s encounter with fellow countryman Francis Bebey who already had a Jazz band ‘Bebey’s Jazz Band’ in the same town was vital to his access to early opportunity. He used his time with Bebey to master the piano (which he had studied) and to explore with the Saxophone (in 1954) an instrument which was his delight following ‘contact’ with Ellington and Parker. His interest in another instrument the Mandolin waned as a result of increasing assignments with Bebey’s band on the Saxophone. He worked in Monaco for a while before moving on.

Duke Ellington inspired Dibango

Dibango’s yearn for adventure took him to Brussells Belgium in 1956.A significant journey in the sense that it brought two fortunate incidents into his life. The first was his meeting with his future model wife Coco and the second a chance meeting with Grand Kalle who was a very influential lupin of African popular music at the time. Before meeting Kalle he had embarked on cutting his teeth in Belgium working at the trendy Tabou club for four years and also venturing out into various parts of Europe for performances the most memorable of which were the tours of American military bases that had been instituted following the allied victory in the second world war. All through this time Dibango hardly recorded.

In 1960 he met Grand Kalle in the Black Angels (Les Ange Noires) club where as a result of the relationship between Belgium and Congo Kinshasha (Belgium was colonial master before Congo got independence on 30th June 1960 with Joseph Kasavabu as president and Patrice Lumumba as prime minister) Kalle who in that year released the compilation ‘independence cha cha’ was a frequent visitor (many Congolese musicians at the time either recorded in Belgium or had record deals with Belgium companies or in some cases both). At Les Ange Noires between January and June 1960 the clientele consisted of Congolese who were in Belgium arguing for independence. The Dibango-Congo connection later enabled him to witness the visit to Congo of Jazz maestro Louis Armstrong in 1960.Armstrong had also influenced Kalle greatly.

Manu Dibango’s meeting with Kalle opened up more opportunities for Dibango who was recruited to play Sax in the African Jazz band. First of which was the opportunity to professionalise and perform abroad and in Zaire with an already established name, as Kalle after forming the African Jazz band in 1953 had in that decade impressed all over Africa and beyond. Dibango was able to meet and work with Tabu ‘Tabu Ley rocherau’Pascal (who joined Kalle in 1959) and Nicholas ‘Dr.Nico’ Kasanda Wa Mikalay who later became leading contributors to the music from Central Africa.

The second opportunity was Kalle’s Africa Jazz band exposed Dibango to a wide range of African rhythms (especially Congo where Kalle originated) and the fusion of Afro-latino sounds that Kalle espoused. Rumba, cha cha cha were soothing to the Dibango ear. Thirdly Dibangos recording career begun in studio sessions with Kalle.These years were the dawn of Congo’s independence. In August 1961 Kalle and his band (that included Dibango, Tabu Ley and Dr.Nico) had a grand tour of Zaire (as Congo was also named). While in Leopoldville (Kinshasha) the restless but multi-talented Dibango sought more adventure maintaining a loose relationship with Kabaselleh and branching out (perhaps influenced by Dr Nico and Tabu Ley who left Kalle in 1963) on his own to manage two clubs where he also performed.

His decision was crucial to grooming his individuality as an artist especially because the condition in African Jazz band had room for one front star Grand Kalle. At L’Afro Negro and Tam Tam clubs he panel beat his twist performing style that he had taken to upon touching down with Kalle. ‘Twist a leo’ drew public attention. Dibango continued working in Congo with occasional incursions into his home country Cameroon where he run a few clubs in Douala. He later moved with Kalle to Paris where his massive recording career began, starting with a recording contract with Tuthi followed by one with Phillips (for which he released ‘Sax Party’ in the late 60s) and Decca (which had also handled Louis Armstrong and Bing Crosby). Decca signed him as a result of his relationship with Rolande LeCouviour. Dibango was also able to work with other Parisian outfits like the Dick Rivers orchestra and Nino Ferrers. His ability to ‘Jam’ (improvise) in different styles with different musicians made him comfortable in any musical genre that he lent his talent too.

In 1972 the eighth African Nations Cup was held in Cameroon and though Cameroon reached only the semi-final and was knocked out by Congo Brazzaville (which also went on to win the final on a 3-2 margin against Mali), Dibango wrote a song (hymn) for the event. The song in honour of the nations cup was less significant bearing in mind the success of the sax, funk, soul and disco flip (B) side single ‘Soul Makossa’ which transformed not only Dibango’s career but also drew anew attention from the globe to the whole world of African Popular music. Decca in typical record label style quickly organised for an accompanying album with this as the lead single. The album ‘Oboso’ was released. Dibango released the single as part of another compilation album ‘Soul Makossa’ in 1973 after the lukewarm ‘Soma Loba’.

Dibango’s success with ‘Makossa’ particularly in America gave impetus to Decca to organise performances at the prestigious Olympia theatre Paris France (akin to New York’s Apollo theatre) and in America through WEA (Warner Atlantic Elektra) for Manu Dibango. The journey to America sealed and delivered the Dibango sound to the American Jazz scene where his tour with the two-year-old band Fania All-stars Jazz ensemble was awesome. In 1974 the album ‘Super Kumba’ was released followed by ‘Afradelic’ in 1975,the year in which he joined the trail of African musicians (including Salif Keita) trekking to Abidjan Ivory Coast in the 70s and 80s.Manu Dibango branched into the media becoming the music director of the Orchestre RTI (Radio Television d’Cote D’Ivoire). His job was to supervise this orchestra of the national radio and television stations in Ivory Coast he later appeared on the Third French Television channel on the program ‘Salut Manu’ in 1991.

The Olympia Theatre Paris France

After the untimely death of both his parents in 1976 Dibango released ‘Manu 76’ and ‘African Rhythm Machine and Afrovision: Big Blow’ in the same year before leaving Ivory Coast on another musical expedition. Dibango then released ‘A L’Olympia’ in 1977.His next release was a return to roots union of African musicians and African sounds. The album ‘Home made’ collected a diverse group of musicians from West Africa (Ghana and Nigeria). On the recording trips for this album, he met another Sax virtuoso ‘Fela Anikulapo Kuti’ who had released the inflammatory album V.I.P (Vagrants In Power).

Then Dibango turned to the direction of the Caribbean. Moving to Jamaica in 1979 he started work with the rhythm twins Lowell ‘Sly’ Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare who are two of Jamaica’s best trans-generational producers. The product more fusion in the name of reggae makossa. The albums A’ la Jamaique’, ‘Gone Clear’, ‘Reggae Makossa’ and ‘Ambassador’ were appropriately released on Sonodisc and Island records (which was one of the most popular record labels of the time) following this collaboration three years later with the hit singles ‘ma marie’ and ‘Douala serenade ’ from the Sonodisc album ‘Waka Juju’.

Sly and Robbie, acclaimed Jamaican producers who worked with Dibango

In two years he completed work on the ‘Abele Dance’ project produced by world music maestro Martin Messonier (who had just completed work on two King Sunny Ade albums ‘Juju music’ and ‘synchro system’ and was working with Tunisian Amina Annabi) and found time to drop a live album ‘Deliverance’ and the compilation albums ‘Melodies Africaines Vols. 1&2 and ‘soft and sweet’ on Sonodisc before delving into the electric album ‘Electrica Africa’ on Melodie/Celluloid in 1985.The collaboration with ‘Herbert Jeffrey ‘Herbie Hancock’ Hancock’ in Paris was one of the albums highlights. After this album following in the footsteps of Bob Geldof’s Band Aid for Ethiopia, Dibango organized Tam Tam for Ethiopia with a collection of African musicians.

The musician without the award or the autobiography misses something. Often a platinum plaque, national or artistic awards add more fulfilment to financial accolades that compensate the gruesome studio and stage life of the artist. The documentation of that life for all to read and preserve is another achievement. The presentation of the prestigious ‘Medaille des Arts et des letters’ (an award initiated by the French government in 1957 to reward foreign people excelling in the field of arts and literature in France) to Manu Dibango on March 14th 1986 by Jack Lang the French minister of Culture followed by his autobiography ‘trois kilos de café’ (three kilos of coffee) in 1990 whose inspiration came from the three kilograms of coffee for his adopted family that he carried on his maiden journey to France in which; the ‘victoire’ accolade in 1992 for best album of instrumental varieties for the second volume of his 1990 released ‘negropolitaines album and being named alongside footballer ‘Roger Milla’ as Cameroonian of the century were milestone achievements for Manu Dibango. In 1986 he also worked with another collective of African star powered musicians Hugh Masekela from South Africa, Ray Lema from Congo along with Michel Alibo.They released the ‘AfriJazzy’ compilation on Melodie, which was followed by another live album from Dibango titled ‘Happy Reunion’.

Dibango entered the 90s decade with a live album ‘Live 91’ and the BMG/RCA album ‘Polysonic’ a fusion of Jazz, rap and traditional rhythms. French rapper MC Mello featured on this project. He also did a remake album ‘negropolitaines vol.’ (that had a lot of material from Zenzile ‘Miria Makeba’ Makeba and Grand Kalle including the Makeba’s 1977 hit ‘pata pata’ and nostalgic 1960 hit ‘independence cha cha’ from Grand Kalle) on Melodie records. In 1992 he released another album with another group of African musicians ‘Wakafrica, ou I’Afrique en route’ on the WMD label. This time round Youssou N’dour, King Sunny Ade (the Juju maestro and self styled minister of enjoyment), Salif Keita, Angelique Kidjo and Ray Lema.

The death of his wife Coco in 1995 was a big blow leaving Dibango with his eternal attachment ‘music’. He went back to studio and came up with the ‘Lamastabastani’ in 1996 on Melodie followed by the WMD ‘Papa groove’ live album and in 1997 the projects ‘march’ and ‘African Soul’ on Wagram, the very best of’ after which he went back to his modest roots with a festival in 1998 in Saint Calais. The event ‘Soirs au village’ brought a group of African musicians to perform.

After this event in the same year he released the ‘Manu Safari’ album on Wagram. together with the ‘Cubafrica’ set on Melodie.The new millennium saw Dibango more vibrant than ever with an album in April 2000 titled ‘Mboa’su’(At home) on JPS records, followed by the ‘rencontres musicales’ in Yaounde Cameroon. On march 13th 2001 Manu Dibango returned with an extravaganza at the Olympia in Paris with the London Community Gospel Choir (a choir formed in 1982 by Delroy Powell, Lawrence Johnson and Bazil Meade) conducted by founding member Reverend Bazil Meade and Cameroonian Blues Singer Douleur, Werra Son, Kali and Pablo master. He then released ‘Kamer feeling’ a fusion of reggae, rap and traditional Cameroonian styles.2002 was a new year and a new compilation album in the form of ‘B-sides’. In 2003 Manu Dibango released a series of ‘best of’ albums to rekindle the attention of fans who have been with him since day one and also to get his music to the category that was oblivious of his presence in the global music scene.

Whether Dibango is a commercial success is hard to tell. Eclectic musicians hardly earn colossal sums, they instead receive the accolades and the omni-present reverence. In either case, the events, incidents and occasions of Manu Dibango’s life all augur well for the legacy of African popular music. No doubt he remains a living legend whose contribution cannot be ignored. Dibango from a symbol of the artistic relations between the francophone world and the continental manifestations of late cultural fusion in Africa rises to the occasion of subsisting as a cultural envoy from the continent in coordinate with an ever-changing globe.