Valérie Ekoumè - Soul Makossa - LIVE at Musica Mundo Festival Amersfoort 2023

Step into the colorful world of Valérie Ékoumè, where love is king and Afropop is the way she expresses it. Ékoumè is a French-Cameroonian singer who grew up in a musical family. During her childhood she listened to different music styles such as Congolese rumba, pop music by Michael Jackson and Cameroonian music such as bikutsi and mangambeu. Singers like Miriam Makeba (Mama Africa) and Whitney Houston were, as Valérie says, her virtual vocal coaches, from whom she learned a lot by singing along with their music.
Her life took a turn when she teamed up with Manu Dibango in the Soul Makossa Gang in 2004. For eight years she went on tour with this top musician, one of the best experiences of her life.
In 2005 she joined the American School of Modern Music in Paris. Valérie stayed there for five years and collaborated with a wide variety of musicians such as Alain Barrière, Maceo Parker, Courtney Pine, Papa Wemba and Meiway. Ékoumè is part of this new multicultural generation and influenced by it. Her second album Kwin na kingue, on which she delved deeper into her Cameroonian roots, reached the top ten of RFI Best World / African Albums.
Valérie Ékoumè brings swinging Afropop, based on traditional music. So get ready to dance!

[@emmanuelsmith826]

Nice arrangements

[@didierstrijdonk5466]

Ik groeide op met Manu Dibango's versie dankzij mijn ouders, die in de auto regelmatig de CD "Alane - The Sound of Africa" afspeelden.
Dit is écht een hele andere interpretatie van zijn lied, maar ik vraag mij af wie zich eigenlijk realiseert dat dit oorspronkelijk een lied van Manu Dibango was.
Hoe dan ook creatief en al ligt de originele versie dichter bij mijn hart, kan ik wel waarderen dat ze haar eigen positieve en prettige versie heeft gemaakt.
Mooi gedaan!