Manu Dibango is a saxophone player and vibraphonist from Cameroon, Africa. He's worked with an amazingly diverse group of musicians over the years, from Nigerian great Fela Kuti to Latin greats the Fania All-Stars, from jazz greats Herbie Hancock and Don Cherry, to reggae greats Sly and Robbie. If you find any solo Manu Dibango albums, especially from the early to mid 70's, definitely check them out. Soul Makossa, Africadelic, and African Woodoo are all great, diverse albums from Dibango. On those albums, Manu goes from extremely funky-jazz groove, to a Nigerian-African rhythm funk track, to a soulful groove. It's all well-worth checking out, though I'm not as big of a fan of his late-70's/early 80's output as much. Check out this track "Mama-se, Mama-sa, Ma-ko-Ma-ko-ssa", which Michael Jackson used for the ending of "Wanna Be Starting Something".
Here's some more Manu Dibango to whet your appetite.
The later track, "Iron Wood", is off of his African Woodoo album, which is an interesting compilation of music recorded for commercials, movies, and tv shows for professional sound illustration, though they were never used for that purpose. However, the album works surprisingly well as a whole. Some of Manu's deepest funk cuts are on this comp, and it's probably my favorite of Manu Dibango's albums. Cop it if you get the chance!
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