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Barely two months after Koffi Olomide staged a thrilling show in Kenya, during the eleventh edition of the bi-monthly Koroga Festival, Kenyan music lovers were in for another huge treat last Sunday.
The legendary Cameroonian saxophonist and vibraphone player, Emmanuel N’Djoké Dibango, popularly known as Manu Dibango, took to stage doing what he knows best at Nairobi’s Arboretum Gardens.
The 82-year-old veteran jazz musician, who rose to worldwide fame thanks to his 1972 monstrous hit, Soul Makossa, headlined the music extravaganza, alongside his incredible band, the Soul Makossa Gang in an event which attracted revelers from all walks of lives.
Among the artists present were Uganda’s Maurice Kirya, Kenya’s Edward Parseen and The Different Faces Band and singer June Gachui.
The moment he stepped on stage Dibango showcased his incredible expertise on the sax as he belted some of his hit songs.
Even with gate pegged at Sh2000 per person the event witnessed a record number of revelers from various walks of life throng the venue.
On arrival to Kenya, an excited Manu Dibango could not hide his love for Kenya, which he referred to as one of his favorite destinations.
"I could not wait to set my eyes on the beautiful sights and sounds of Kenya. It is the one thing I can’t always seem to get enough of," he said.
"I want my fans to know that I have lots of surprises in store for them. Mine is a different version of music that explores original Jazz and new sounds in a contemporary context making it easier for fans to sit back and enjoy,” he said, adding his fans would have the chance to 'eat' from the palm of his hands as they enjoy the music.
"I will be sure to re-ignite the long-lost memories of original Jazz music, which has been described by some as dead making sure that I live a mark in the minds of those who will be present at the concert," added the musician.
A saxophonist and vibraphone player Dibango developed a musical style fusing jazz, funk and traditional Cameroonian music. His father was a member of the Yabassi ethnic group, though his mother was a Duala.
According to him it was his hit single Soul Makossa released in 1972 that elevated him into the limelight.
Born in Douala, Cameroon his father, Michel Manfred N'Djoké Dibango was a civil servant while his mother was a fashion designer.
“I was the only child in my family with a stepbrother from my father's previous marriage,” he says.
As a child he attended Protestant church every night for religious education, or nkouaida during which he studied music.
“Music has been a big part of me ever since I was a child and it is the one thing I enjoyed studying and reportedly was a fast learner,” he says.
In 1941, still as a student at a colonial school, near his home, where he learned French- three years later they had the chance to perform for the then French president Charles de Gaulle who paid a visit to Cameroon.
“Everything turned out well as he loved every moment of our music. It was at this point that I knew I had potential in music and had to do everything possible in order to follow my heart yearnings away from life’s prescribed journey,” he says.
Luckily for him he managed to curve a niche for himself as a former member of the seminal Congolese rumba group African Jazz.
“I worked with several musicians, among them Fania All Stars, Fela Kuti, Herbie Hancock, Bill Laswell, Bernie Worrell, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, King Sunny Adé, Don Cherry, and Sly and Robbie, before deciding to record my debut album CubAfrica with Cuban artist Eliades Ochoa in 1998.
Achievements
Apart from this Dibango served as the first chairman of the Cameroon Music Corporation, with a high profile in disputes about artists' royalties after which he was appointed a UNESCO Artist for Peace in 2004.
His song Reggae Makossa is featured on the soundtrack to the 2006 video game Scarface: The World Is Yours. In August 2009 he played the closing concert at the revived Brecon Jazz Festival. In July 2014 he made an 80th anniversary concert at Olympia, France which was broadcast by TV5Monde.
On September 2015, he was honoured by with the title of Special Representative of Francophonia to the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games).
