Manu Dibango & the Soul Makossa Gang, Ronnie Scott's | reviews, news & interviews
Manu Dibango & the Soul Makossa Gang, Ronnie Scott's
Manu Dibango & the Soul Makossa Gang, Ronnie Scott's
Legendary Cameroonian star gives fitful account
It’s a nice dilemma. Cameroonian saxophonist and band leader Manu Dibango, who has a Ronnie’s residency ending tonight, helped create the disco sound with his 1972 single “Soul Makossa”. Since then he has ranged over the extended Afro-soul-funk-jazz family of genres with insouciant ease, his showbusinesslike gift for a glitzy riff leading his influence into pop, too. So how to consolidate this influence?
Though the stylistic language varies very widely from track to track, his songs tend to have a similar structure, with a leisurely build up to a climax that – at its best – is entrancingly, groovingly, hip-rollingly gorgeous. It took the band a few songs to hit their stride, but either side of the interval there were a couple of sensational pieces that built from nothing. “Bolingo City”, the third song, a powerfully swinging funk ballad, was a superb ensemble performance, that worked because the players were inside one another’s groove so intimately.
The band’s sonic textures are always charming, with vocalist Isabel Gonzalez on a variety of blocks and shakers, and Dibango himself occasionally playing vibes alongside the regular line-up of guitars, keys and drums. Dibango is not above outrageous showmanship: the bird-like sax trills on “Full Up” could have been tasteless in less adept hands. Keyboardist Julien Agazar milked his instruments of their juciest and funkiest sounds throughout, though “Tshakou-Tshakou” – which also had some pealing Highlife guitar – was his highlight. The band closed the show with a version of “Soul Makossa”, but it was an anaemic affair compared – as it inevitably would be – with the early recordings.
A reminder of how Dibango’s influence has seeped through pop came in 2009, when he sued Sony, Warner and EMI over the use of the chant "mama-koo mama-sa maku ma-ku-sa" from “Soul Makossa” that Michael Jackson recycled in "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'", and Rihanna revived again in “Don’t Stop The Music”. It’s quite a legacy.
Last night’s gig confirmed Dibango’s range, but also the increasing sense that he is now treading water creatively. Both Dibango and the audience seemed content to tip their hat to a historical achievement. Though it clearly isn’t a dance venue, sometimes you feel the Ronnie’s management would need to deploy landmines to get the audience moving out of their seats, such is the aversion of too-polite crowds to demonstrative appreciation. It was never less than pleasant, but a gig that could have been a whirlwind didn’t really rise above a warm breeze.
Add comment