Vincent Nguini (July 1952 – December 8, 2017) was a Cameroonian musician and guitarist. Nguini was best known for his work with American singer-songwriter
Paul Simon, with whom he recorded and toured for 30 years.
Biography
Nguini was born in July 1952 in
Obala
Obala is a town in Cameroon's Centre Province, ca 45 km north of Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon.
Overview
The town is the seat of a Roman Catholic diocese and hosts a military academy. Tourists in Obala may visit the somewhat derelict L ...
,
Cameroon
Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...
. He grew up interested in music through African music as well as American rock and jazz artists. He relocated to
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
in 1978 and began working as a session musician. He became the musical director for
Manu Dibango in the late 1970s and subsequently lived in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
In 1987, he joined
Paul Simon's band, first contributing to his 1990 album ''
The Rhythm of the Saints
''The Rhythm of the Saints'' is the eighth solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon, released on October 16, 1990 on Warner Bros. In much the same way that Simon's 1986 album ''Graceland'' drew upon South African music, this alb ...
''. On that album, he received a co-writing credit for the song "The Coast". Throughout the next two decades, Nguini recorded with artists like
Peter Gabriel and
Jimmy Buffett, while releasing his own albums on his own label, Nguini Records. He continued working with Simon as well, contributing to his albums and touring with him into his final years.
Death
Nguini died of
liver cancer at age 65 on December 8, 2017 in
Abadiânia,
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
.
References
External links
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1952 births
2017 deaths
Cameroonian musicians
African jazz guitarists
20th-century Cameroonian people
21st-century Cameroonian people
Rhythm guitarists
Deaths from liver cancer
Deaths from cancer in Goiás
Lead guitarists
Cameroonian expatriates in France
Cameroonian expatriates in the United States
People from Centre Region (Cameroon)
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