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, for some time, nearly forgotten, until
a new CD
« Béza Ba Dzo » was released, which was
the starting point of a renewed career.
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 ».
As mentioned earlier, she recorded a new album in 1998, and made a first re-appearance at the
Rencontres Musicales
de Yaoundé in December 1998, which was the starting point of an international tour in 1999.
• Musicians on the album « Béza Ba Dzo »:
Zacharie Onana (guitar);
Nembot T. Sandjo (synthesizer);
Jean-Paul Lietcheu (bass);
Joseph Kede (tam-tam);
Guy-Vincent Nwogang (percussion);
"Steve" Tebede Ndzana (drums).
Born: as Anne-Marie Nvounga, in Bibia Lolodorf (South Province), 1932
Died: 24 May 2016, in Yaoundé
Style: Bikutsi