Manu Dibango Sax Makossa - Afro Avant-Garde

(Herald rating: * * * *)

Excellent compilation by Cameroon's internationally acclaimed Afro-jazz saxophonist

Saxophonist Dibango's musical reach is so wide that it is an unenviable task to attempt a single disc collection, but this one manages to nod towards all aspects of his long career.

Best known for his early 70s hit, the funky Soul Makossa (which has undergone techno and electrobeat remixes and here appears in its '92 version, Makossa Blow, with Herbie Hancock and Bill Laswell) Dibango never shied away from any style. He played urban r'n'b funk (here represented by Super Kumba from '74), pure jazz (a baritone sax version Nature Boy from '80) or soundtracks such as his hypnotic work for Ousman Sembene's Ceddo (here revisited in the marimba track Miango Ma Tumba).

Elsewhere is the juju-style Miss Cavacha and alto-driven poppy sound of Mi Naya, the string-soaked ballad Oa Na Mba from the 60s (which could have come from any French, romantic weepy) and the irrepressibly funky Mouna Pola.

That most of what is here comes from a decade starting in '74 (and that he plays more than half a dozen instruments) shows why Dibango had some difficulty establishing himself. Reviewers found it hard to pigeon-hole him. Yet this hangs together as the work of a single, expansive mind and is the ideal starting point on a rewarding journey of discovery from wah-wah soul-funk back to elemental African acoustic music on traditional instruments. Quite a trip. Quite a musician.

Label: Rough Guide