{"id":158980,"date":"2020-03-26T00:58:55","date_gmt":"2020-03-25T22:58:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/tribute-to-manu-dibango-cameroonian-jazz-pioneer-loved-across-africa-and-the-world-the-conversation\/"},"modified":"2020-03-26T00:58:55","modified_gmt":"2020-03-25T22:58:55","slug":"tribute-to-manu-dibango-cameroonian-jazz-pioneer-loved-across-africa-and-the-world-the-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/tribute-to-manu-dibango-cameroonian-jazz-pioneer-loved-across-africa-and-the-world-the-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"Tribute to Manu Dibango: Cameroonian jazz pioneer loved across Africa and the world | The Conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tribute to Manu Dibango: Cameroonian jazz pioneer loved across Africa and the world<\/a>: <\/p>\n

<\/span> David Corio\/Redferns\/Getty Images<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

African jazz has lost another of its best-known icons.<\/p>\n

Emmanuel N\u2019Djok\u00e9 Dibango, popularly known as Manu Dibango, was, like Hugh Masekela who died last year, a global star of Afro-jazz and funk. <\/p>\n

The saxophonist Dibango leaves a huge legacy spanning more than 60 years of musical production that will continue to echo in global music. His brand of Afro-jazz drew enormously from makossa, a genre of popular music invented in the 1950s in Cameroon\u2019s major economic and cultural centre, Douala. The music blended Afro-Cuban rumba and local musical forms such as assiko and ambasse bey with other styles such as the Congolese soukous. <\/p>\n

Tellingly, one of Dibango\u2019s most successful albums is titled Soul Makossa<\/em> (1972), with a title song that has been repeatedly sampled (though most often unacknowledged) by stars ranging from Michael Jackson to Rihanna, Kanye West and A Tribe Called Quest. This one track alone has been referenced by so many globally famed artists that it has infused the pop culture zeitgeist from dance floors to catwalks at various times over the decades.<\/p>\n

Dibango\u2019s work has resonated with so many of his peers and audience because of its eclectic and ecumenical character. The richness of its multiple sources of inspirations across a wide range of traditions was only enhanced by Dibango\u2019s deft ability to combine and recompose them into new symphonies and rhythms. <\/p>\n

In an interview in 2018 for Quincy Jones\u2019 Qwest TV, he spoke about his life and musical journey, moving between jazz, rumba, funk, and reggae, crossing paths with Sidney Bechet, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, Bob Marley and Mohamed Ali along the way. <\/p>\n

In Africa, Dibango\u2019s appeal as an artist stemmed not only from his great talent, but also his simple ability to work with artists across a wide range of generations and backgrounds to advance African music and social causes on the continent. He famously led a humanitarian effort to raise money for the fight against famine in Ethiopia through a number of initiatives, including a charity record, Tam-Tam for Ethiopia<\/em> (Drum for Ethiopia) in 1985.<\/p>\n