Manu Dibango

An outstanding vibes and sax player known as "the lion of Cameroon", Manu Dibango has had an incalculable influence on African music and its popularisation in America and Europe. Amazingly versatile, his ability to play numerous musical styles to a high standard made him a legend among his fellow musicians, though he was most celebrated as an afrobeat innovator—fusing jazz, funk and traditional Cameroonian music. His brilliant 1972 single “Soul Makossa” is widely credited as inspiring the disco boom (makossa means "dance" in the Cameroonian language Duala). Various artists, including Michael Jackson, Rihanna, Wyclef Jean, Akon and Jay-Z subsequently used the chorus on their own records. Born on December 12th, 1933 in Douala, Dibango himself originally trained as a classical pianist, was a member of Congolese rumba group African Jazz and developed his unique sound after forming his own band and moving to Paris in 1965. He took African music around the world with numerous albums and high-profile tours, celebrating his 70th birthday in 2007 with an all-star concert at London's Barbican. After a long and illustrious career, the coronavirus pandemic sadly claimed the life of the pioneering instrumentalist, who died in Melun on March 24th, 2020 at the age of 86.