He started out with Ry-Co Jazz. Manu Dibango advised him to switch from guitar to bass, where he mixed makossa with rhythm’n blues influences. A long-time musician for Claude François, Jean Dikoto Mandengue has also played for Véronique Samson and Nino Ferrer. A keen Anglo-Saxon collaborator, he was a member of the legendary group Osibisa, whose Afro-pop was mixed with highlife and rock. After his American period with Georges Clinton, he returned to France and released several albums, including 1983’s Dikoto, produced by Slim Pezin and featuring guitarist Vincent Nguini, a mix of makossa, funk, reggae, rumba and even a few pop ballads. Dikoto Mandengue is one of Cameroon’s leading bass players, alongside Vicky Edimo and Jo Tongo, and ahead of the generation of Mbappé, Bona and Sabal-Lecco who are shining brightly today.
Dikoto – Jean « Dikoto » Mandengue, 1983
