Cameroonian artist Manu Dibango dies from coronavirus

Text by: RFI Follow

Hospitalized for several days, after having tested positive for the coronavirus, Manu Dibango, 86, a Cameroonian saxophonist and legend of afro-jazz died.

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Manu Dibango's life was entirely devoted to music. He made himself known with a planetary hit, some chords on the saxophone and a heady refrain, in 1972, Soul Makossa became legendary. Astonishing destiny for this B side of a 45 laps, whose flagship title was an anthem for the Cameroon football team on the occasion of the African Cup of Nations. Spotted by New York DJs, the title will conquer the United States and know a thousand lives. Manu Dibango will even accuse Michael Jackson of plagiarism on a song from the album "Thriller" before a financial agreement is reached.

Manu Dibango was born in Cameroon in 1933. It was in the temple choir, where his mother was a teacher, that he learned to sing, while the parental gramophone introduced him to French, American and Cuban music, imported by sailors disembarking in the port of Douala. He was 15 years old when his father sent him to study in France, three weeks by boat to reach the port of Marseille with, as he tells in his biography, 3 kg of coffee in his bag, a rare commodity in France after the war, enough to pay a month's pension.

Inventor before the time of world music

Jazz then enters Manu Dibango's life; he will never leave it, the saxophone becomes his favorite instrument. He meets the musician Francis Bebey, Cameroonian like him, forms a group, he performs in clubs and misses his bac. His father cut him off. Direction Belgium where its jazz is Africanized in contact with the Congolese community in full effervescence. The Belgian Congo became independent in 1960. Manu Dibango left for Léopoldville, he ran a club and launched the twist.

At the beginning of the 1960s, his country Cameroon was in civil war, he returned to France, he discovered the rhythm and blues, French stars of the time like Dick Rivers or Nino Ferrer hired him as a musician. In the 90s, Manu Dibango recorded an album of covers of the biggest African hits Wakaafrika, a trip from Dakar to Cape Town. Youssou N'Dour, Salif Keita, Angélique Kidjo, Peter Gabriel participate. Will follow many other albums for this inventor before the time of world music.

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• Cameroon
• Coronavirus
• Music