Legendary Cameroonian saxophonist and vibraphone player, Manu Dibango (real manes Emmanuel N'Djoké Dibango), is headed to Nairobi.
The 82-year-old veteran jazz musician, who rose to worldwide fame thanks to his 1972 monstrous hit, Soul Makossa, will headline the bi-monthly music extravaganza, Koroga Festival, slated for May 8 at the Nairobi's Arboretum Gardens.
He will be accompanied by his incredible band, the Soul Makossa Gang.
Dibango, who over his illustrious music career has chucked out an amazing 72 albums, latest being the Balade En Saxo in 2013, developed a musical style fusing jazz, funk and traditional Cameroonian music.
He was a member of the seminal Congolese rumba group African Jazz, and has collaborated with many other musicians, including Fania All Stars, Fela Kuti, Herbie Hancock, Bill Laswell, Bernie Worrell, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, King Sunny Adé, Don Cherry, and Sly and Robbie.
In 1998, Dibango recorded the album, CubAfrica, with Cuban artiste Eliades Ochoa.
Soul Makossa, the song, influenced several popular music hits, including Michael Jackson's Wanna Be Startin' Somethin', as well as his re-recording of that song with Akon, the Fugees' Cowboys and Rihanna's Don't Stop the Music.
The 1982 parody song Boogie in your Butt by comedian Eddie Murphy interpolates Soul Makossa's bassline and horn charts while Butt Naked Booty Bless by 1990s hip hop group Poor Righteous Teachers, heavily samples its musical bridge and drum patterns.
Dibango served as the first chairman of the Cameroon Music Corporation, with a high profile in disputes about artistes' royalties and appointed a UNESCO Artiste for Peace in 2004.
His song Reggae Makossa is featured on the soundtrack to the 2006 video game Scarface: The World Is Yours.
In August 2009 he played the closing concert at the revived Brecon Jazz Festival, while in July 2014, he made an 80th anniversary concert at Olympia in France, which was broadcast live by TV5Monde.
Last year on Septembre 8, Dibango was honoured with the Special Representative of Francophonia to the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.