Fleurs Musicales du Cameroun – Artistes Divers, 1982

🌍🇨🇲🎶💿🎵 In 1984, the Cameroonian government, in the person of its Minister of Information and Culture, Guillaume Bwele, set about promoting the country’s rich musical heritage. And the least we can say is that he is not doing things by halves. In thirty tracks on three discs, Fleurs Musicales du Cameroun paints as rich and diverse a portrait as possible of the country’s wealth of musical talent. The first disc is dedicated to ‘folklore’ and takes us on a journey through the ethnic, cultural and geographical diversity of Cameroon: bikutsi, tchamassi, assiko, afrobeat and traditional songs from the north to the south of this Africa in miniature. The other two albums focus on makossa, of course, but more broadly on music that has often transcended Cameroon’s borders. These include Manu Dibango, Pierre Tchana, André-Marie Tala, Eko Roosevelt, Anne-Marie Nzié, Dina Bell, Marthe Zambo, Ngalle Jojo, Francis Bebey and Eboa Lottin, among many others. A must-read!