Frank Bessem's Musiques d'Afrique: Anne-Marie Nzié

Frank Bessem's
Musiques d'Afrique:

Anne-Marie Nzié
(Cameroon)

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Anne-Marie Nzié is one of the veterans of Cameroonian modern music. She is more or less of the same generation as Manu Dibango, Francis Bebey, Mama Ohandja, Marthe Zambo, and Jean Bikoko, and she was, until recently, nearly forgotten. However, a new CD was released, which is the starting point of a new come-back.

She started singing at the age of eight, in her village, after she fell out of a mango tree. Singing was a way of coping with the pain and a long and slow recovery. Her professional career began around 1953, in the era of 78 rpm discs.
When she married, her career had stopped temporarily, but in 1962, she made a first come-back. She gained popularity until the early 1970s with a mixture of bikutsi, assiko and bolobo music.
In 1984, she made a second come-back with the album Liberté. In 1998, she recorded a new album, and made a first re-appearance at the Rencontres Musicales de Yaoundé in December 1998, starting point of an international tour in 1999.

Born: as Anne-Marie Nvounga, in Bibia Lolodorf (South Province), 1932
Style: Bikutsi

Musicians on "Béza Ba Dzo": Zacharie Onana (guitar), Nembot T. Sandjo (synthesizer), Jean-Paul Lietcheu (bass), Joseph Kede (tam-tam), Guy-Vincent Nwogang (percussion), and "Steve" Tebede Ndzana (drums).

Discography:

Title	Year	Label	Remarks
Béza Ba Dzo	1998	Indigo LBLC 2543
Liberté	1984	TC 0003	LP
Sara	1970s