Happy Birthday Manu!

Dibango celebrates his birthday at Petit Journal in Montparnasse

Paris 

17/12/1998 - 

Manu Dibango is a man of habit.
Indeed, so much so that every year on his birthday, the famous Cameroonian sax-player performs at the "Petit Journal Montparnasse" (hallowed temple of the Paris jazz scene). And he doesn't forget to invite a whole host of musician friends to come along and celebrate with him!

Manu's passion for performing at the "Petit Journal Montparnasse" - a passion which is shared, we might add, by a number of leading French music stars such as Claude Nougaro and Michel Legrand - is a strange, unexplained phenomenon. What exactly is the charm of this tiny, cramped jazz club squeezed between a shopping centre and the Sofitel Hotel? Let's face it, when it comes down to it, the "Petit Journal" is in fact a rather sad soulless venue - a club which could not be further in spirit from the atmospheric smoke-filled caverns which made the Left Bank famous in its jazz heyday!

For a start, the "Petit Journal" has become a major tourist hang-out, a venue where you're more likely to find groups of tourists picking over seafood platters than committed jazz fans hanging on the musicians' every note. What's more, if you don't actually sit down at a table to eat, you get a pretty bad view of the stage and can barely hear anything at all! But maybe that's why Manu's such a big fan of the "Petit Journal" - after all, it's rare these days to find a venue where you can play to such a mixed crowd and perhaps the legendary sax-player actually enjoys reaching out and touching stiff-suited businessmen, coachloads of tourists and middle-aged Romeos entertaining their latest conquest. Besides, there's always a large following of committed jazz fans in the audience somewhere!

Whatever the case, Manu was at the "Petit Journal" this year, like every year, celebrating his birthday. (We won't reveal the legendary sax-player's real age - apart from giving you the clue that he was born in Cameroon on 12 December 1933!) Yes, that makes him well over 60 and he's still going strong! Manu and his Soul Makossa Gang - who, owing to the Petit Journal's cramped stage space, were reduced to four on Manu's birthday night! - certainly proved they were alive and kicking, bringing the house down with two one-hour sets which mixed the strains of Zairean rumba with reggae, funk, jazz-rock, gospel - and just about every other musical style imaginable! For untrained ears accustomed to listening to just one musical genre per concert, Manu's frenetic medley was a big shock to the system but, judging by the audience reaction, every single note hit home.

And then of course, music fans had the added bonus of playing spot-the-visiting-celebrity as a host of special guest stars came up to wish Mr. Manu many happy returns! Pablo Master joined the famous sax-star on stage, adding a raggamuffin touch to Manu's famous song "Docteur Bird". Rising young Rai star Faudel also performed an African/Algerian fusion and Yannick Noah , carrying his baby daughter in his arms, also came up to wish Monsieur Dibango a very Happy Birthday. In fact, Manu Dibango's entire musical 'family' were there at the "Petit Journal Montparnasse", giving music fans a glimpse of the exciting cocktail of sounds which have nourished Paris's 'world' music scene over the past three decades.

Looking at this joyful fusion of race, nationality and culture on stage, it was hard to imagine that somewhere on the other side of Paris two mad politicians were fighting over the last racist remains of the French National Front!

JJD

(Translation - J.S.)

Manu Dibango's new CD album "Manu Safari" (WAGRAM 3042102) features an excellent new version of "Soir au Village" (Manu's greatest ever hit in Africa), recorded with Bébé Manga, and a very interesting adaptation of "A La Claire Fontaine".