Page 6 - Nile Explorer Issue 007

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In 1959 when Kabasele recorded the pan-African anthem
Indépendence Cha Cha he had invited Dibango to the Con-
golese capital, Léopoldville (now Kinshasa), to work with
him. They made many hit records for the Ngoma label in
the prevailing rumba style. Dibango also ran a recording
band called African Soul in which he played the organ on
his own interpretations of American music. He managed a
nightclub, the Tam Tam, but despite financial success he and
Coco experienced racism, so they moved to Abidjan in
Ivory Coast.
In 1972 he made his mark with the hit Soul Makossa. As
soon as it was released, as the B-side of a tribute to the Cam-
eroon football team, there were at least five different cover
versions in the American charts. The use of the refrain
“mama-say, mama-sa, mama-kossa”, on Michael Jackson’s
Wanna Be Starting Something, from his 1982 album Thrill-
er, earned Dibango substantial compensation two decades
later, when he successfully sued Michael Jackson.
According to “Turn the Beat Around: The Secret History of
Disco” (2005), by Peter Shapiro, the New York City disc
jockey David Mancuso found a copy in a West Indian record
store and played it at the Loft, a pioneering disco space, and
the influential radio host Frankie Crocker put the song in
heavy rotation on WBLS. Soon there were more than a
dozen cover versions, as the imported original disc sold out.
Atlantic Records licensed Mr. Dibango’s original, which
reached the American pop Top 40 in 1973.
In the late 1960s and early 70s he recorded film soundtracks smith Black Mambazo and many up and coming Cameroo-
– including that of Ousmane Sembène’s celebrated feature, nians.
Ceddo (1976) – incidental background music and commer- In 1984 he joined more than a dozen artists on the fundrais-
cials, and singles for the African market. ing single Tam Tam Pour l’Ethiopie, released indignantly in
In 1972 he joined the Congo rumba combo Ry-Co Jazz for a response to Band Aid, which many Africans considered
tour of Algeria, along with the guitarist Jerry Malekani, who condescending. Dibango’s 1994 album Wakafrika featured
thereafter became his permanent accompanist. Following King Sunny Adé, Peter Gabriel, Salif Keïta, Papa Wemba and
the death of the US tenor sax supremo King Curtis in 1971, Youssou N’Dour.
Dibango released a tribute single which identified the Back in 1967 he had been bandleader on Pulsations, the first
American as a major influence on his technique. In 1978 he black music programme on French TV, and in the early
recorded two albums for Chris Blackwell’s Island label in 1990s he hosted his own prime-time French TV show, Salut
Jamaica, Afrovision and Gone Clear. Manu. In 1998 his achievements were celebrated by the

In 1982 Dibango worked on a masterful triple album, Fleurs rural community where he grew up, with the naming of a
Musicales du Cameroun, which gathered contemporary cultural centre after him. He reciprocated by donating the
and traditional musicians from the various ethnic groups of saxophone he had used on Soul Makossa.
Cameroon. In later years he was an ambassador for Unicef, received

In the same year he toured France with the American jazz several honours from African countries and, in 2010, was
trumpeter Don Cherry, exploring everything from soul to made a Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur. He was still
Malian folk music and Thelonious Monk. Soon after, he working last year, on tour with Symphonic Safari, blending
was blowing ice-cold funk on his album Electric Africa jazz with classical music.
(1985), which featured Herbie Hancock, and the hit single In the UK his frequent concert appearances included a 2008
Abele Dance. He collaborated with a long list of top class Africa Day show in Trafalgar Square. In London, he played
performers: Hugh Masekela, Fela Kuti, Tony Allen, Fania at Ronnie Scott’s club, where he was a regular “jazz man”.
All-Stars, Ray Lema, Bill Laswell, Sly and Robbie, Lady-

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