Charlie Gillett - Manu Dibango

Another Foreign Affair show numbered "46"  here on the cassette from the 80's sometime. Charlie chats to Manu Bibango and plays some of his favourite records including Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington. Fela Kuti and Franco and TP OK Jazz etc.

Wikipedia says  -  "Dibango was born in Douala, Cameroon. His father, Michel Manfred N'Djoké Dibango was a civil servant. The son of a farmer, he met his wife travelling by pirogue to her residence, Douala. A literate woman, she was a fashion designer, running her own small business. Both her ethnicity, the Duala, and his, the Yabassi, viewed this union of different ethnic groups with some disdain. Emmanuel had no siblings, although he had a stepbrother from his father's previous marriage who was four years older than he was. In Cameroon, one's ethnicity is dictated by their fathers, though he wrote in his autobiography, Three Kilos of Coffee, that he has "never been able to identify completely with either of [his] parents."

Dibango's uncle was the leader of his extended family. Upon his death, Dibango's father refused to take over, as he never fully initiated his son into the Yabassi's customs. Throughout his childhood, Dibango slowly forgot the Yabassi language in favor of the Duala. However, his family did live in the Yabassi encampment on the Bassa plateau, close to the Wouri River in central Douala. While a child, Dibango attendedProtestant church every night for religious education, or nkouaida. He enjoyed studying music there, and reportedly was a fast learner.

In 1941, after being educated at his village school, Dibango was accepted into a colonial school, near his home, where he learned French. He admired the teacher, whom he described as "an extraordinary draftsman and painter." In 1944, French president Charles de Gaullechose this school to perform the welcoming ceremonies upon his arrival in Cameroon."


Charlie Gillett  -  Manu Dibango  Pt. 1

Charlie Gillett  -  Manu Dibango  Pt. 2