Manu Dibango

About Manu Dibango

Manu Dibango is the Cameroonian musician the rest of the world heard first. Soul Makossa, released in 1972 as a B-side for a football tournament, reached New York club DJs and American radio and is widely treated as one of the records that pointed toward disco. He worked as a saxophonist and bandleader across makossa, jazz and Congolese rumba for six decades, including a spell with African Jazz. He died in Paris in March 2020 of COVID-19.