Bassist Manou Gallo, also known as “The Afro-Groove Queen”, was born in 1972 in Divo, a small town in the Western region of the Ivory Coast. As a little girl, Manou surprised the residents of her village when she picked up the drums (customarily played only by men) at a village celebration and captivated the crowd with her fluent rhythm.
Supported by her mentor and adoptive father, producer and arranger Marcellin Yassé, Manou flourished. Yassé encouraged Manou to play electric bass. Eventually, Manou toured Africa as a singing and dancing multi-instrumentalist.
In 1997, Gallo became the bassist of Marie Daulne‘s famous world music band Zap Mama and subsequently moved to Brussels.
In 2001, released her first recrding titled “Dida”. Since 2003, Manou Gallo has led her own bands including the Manou Gallo Women Band, Groove Orchestra, Acoustic Africa and Music Machine. Gallo has become one of the most expressive front women of Afro-European music.
Manou Gallo collaborated with acclaimed funk bass pioneer William “Bootsy” Collins (Parliament Funkadelic). Collins produced Manou’s “Afro Groove Queen” album, released in 2018. Guests include Collins, Zap Mama and the late Manu Dibango.
In 2021, Manou was selected to showcase at the influential WOMEX world music conference.
(headline photo: Manou Gallo – Photo by Solar-X)
Discography:
Dida (Exil, 2003)
Manou Gallo (Zig Zag World, 2006)
Lowlin (IglooMondo, 2009)
Afro Groove Queen (Contre-Jour, 2018)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.