Mama Ohandja is a

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

ian singer, musical arranger, dancer and choreographer. In the early 1970s, he became the most prominent musician in the region to marry traditional music with modern international styles, combining

tom-tom A tom drum (also known as a tom-tom) is a cylindrical drum with no snares, named from the Anglo-Indian and Sinhala language. It was added to the drum kit in the early part of the 20th century. Most toms range in size between in diameter, thoug ...

s, traditional

balafon The balafon (pronounced , or, by analogy with ''xylophone'' etc., ) is a gourd-resonated xylophone, a type of struck idiophone. It is closely associated with the neighbouring Mandé peoples, Mandé, Bwaba Bobo people, Bobo, Senufo people, Seno ...

s , and other instruments with electric instrumentation. Ohandja was born in the village of Ebanga, in the district of

Okola Okola is a town and commune in Cameroon with a population of around 5,390. It is located from the capital Yaoundé, sitting at an elevation of . The volcano Mount Manengouba is west-northwest of Okola. The nearest sea is the Gulf of Guinea, whi ...

in Cameroon to parents who were traditional singers. His own musical career began in the 1960s interpreting

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n , and

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an songs in cabaret with his orchestra De Mandoline Jazz d'Efok. But it was in 1971 that Ohandja developed his recognizable style with the release of the successful ''Confiance jazz''. One of his most famous songs remains "Super Moon Ebon" (The Super Fancy Lady) in the early 1980s. Ohandja fused disparate influences to become known as "Jimi Hendrix of Cameroon." Belinga Multiforme known nowadays as an autonomous singer started his career as dancer and choreographer within the "Confiance Jazz". Mama Ohandja continues to record and perform with his group les Magistrats which was founded in 1991. He has 5 children: 3 daughters (Aimée, Bernadette, Fanny) and 2 sons (Guy and Jean).

References

Mama Ohandja et les Magistrats

20th-century Cameroonian male singers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Cameroonian male singers People from Centre Region (Cameroon) {{Africa-singer-stub

See also

References