Manou Gallo Oslo Jazzfestival 2018 (201304)

Manou N'Guessan Gallo (born 31 August 1972 in Divo, Côte d'Ivoire), is a West African singer, bandleader and musician of African popular music, playing the

electric bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

Life and career

Brought up by her grandmother, Gallo first performed at the age of 12 and went on to become a success, touring in various African countries such as

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

and

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

as well as recording four albums. When the group Woya eventually stopped, Gallo followed Marcellin Yacé to

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, ...

. He gave her her first bass guitar and taught her about recording. Between 1993 and 1996, she also performed in theatre and dance troupes as well as playing on an album by Ray Lema. She eventually met the tour manager of

Zap Mama Zap Mama is the music act of Belgian artist Marie Daulne. Zap Mama sings polyphonic and afro-pop music, a harmonic music with a mixture of infused African vocal techniques, urban, hip hop with emphasis on voice. The worldwide success of Zap Mam ...

and was offered the chance to tour with them in Europe. She performed with them for six years from 1997, and also appeared with the Tambours de Brazza. She eventually formed her own group, ''Le Djiboi'', and toured extensively. Her debut album, ''Dida'', was released on the IglooMondo label in 2003, followed by ''Manou Gallo'' in 2007. In 2011, she produced and played bass with the group Mokoomba on their album ''Rising Tide''. Gallo sings in

Dida In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Diploma in Digital Applications (DiDA) is an optional information and communication technology (ICT) course, usually studied by Key Stage 4 or equivalent school students (aged 14-16). DiDA was introduc ...

, French and English. On her album ''Afro Groove Queen'' she collaborated with

Bootsy Collins William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American bass guitarist and singer. Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s, and later with Parliament-Funkadelic, Collins established himself as one of the leading n ...

and Manu Dibango .

Discography

Solo albums

* ''Dida'' (2003) * ''Manou Gallo'' (2007) * ''Lowlin'' (2010) * ''Afro Groove Queen'' (2018)

Collaborations

* ''A Ma Zone'' (1999) with

* ''Rising Tide'' (2011) with Mokoomba (production and bass) * ''Kalimba Gigi'' song, with Amir Gwirtzman on "Inhale-Exhale" album 2010

References

External links

Manou Gallo's homepageManou Gallo at MySpaceZig Zag World labelManou Gallo on IglooMondo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallo, Manou Living people Ivorian guitarists 1972 births People from Divo, Ivory Coast 21st-century guitarists Igloo Records artists 21st-century women guitarists