cover image Three Kilos of Coffee: An Autobiography

Three Kilos of Coffee: An Autobiography

Manu Dibango. University of Chicago Press, $15 (158pp) ISBN 978-0-226-14490-0

Popular African jazz saxophonist Dibango (Soul Makossa; Electric Africa) details his life in the musical sportlight, beginning with his 1948 emigration from Cameroon to France, at age 15. Young Dibango picked up jazz and blues music quickly-learning piano as well as saxophone-but lost his traditional family's approval when word got back to Cameroon of his success as a working musician. Despite his eventual climb to international fame, familial and tribal conflict haunted Dibango, who could not help but see himself as both African and European, a tension that was further exacerbated by his racially mixed marriage. That Dibango beat these formidable odds to make a career out of his music is a testament to his strong spirit, one which permeates this autobiography. If there is a failing, it is in the confusing number of bands, clubs, and performances referred to in the book's limited pages. ``In music there's no past and no future, just the present,'' Dibango notes and that is how he has chosen to tell his life story. Twenty-three pages of personal photos and a discography complete the book. (Sept.)