Coco Mbassi
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Coco Mbassi (born 28 February 1969) is a musical artist originating from Cameroon, born in Paris, France, and based in London, UK.[1]
Winner of the Radio France Internationale Découvertes Prize in 1996[2] with the song "Muenge Mwa Ndolo", she toured worldwide and her first album, Sepia, was released in 2001. This album was nominated in 2002 for the BBC Radio 3 World Music Awards, and won the German World Music CD Critics' Awards. Her second album Sisea was released in 2003. After touring, she released a live tour DVD, Coco Mbassi Tour.
Prior to her solo career, she sang with various artists as a backing vocalist, live or in recording sessions (including with Salif Keita, the jazz band Sixun, Toure Kunda, Ray Lema).[3], and Manu Dibango[4].
Mbassi performed at Live 8, at the Eden Project, Cornwall.
A lover of music in general, some of her favourites are The Messiah of Handel, Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley and the Cameroonian artist Dina Bell.[citation needed]
Mbassi was on tour with Totem (Cirque du Soleil) as the lead female vocalist of the production in 2011.
Her latest release is the album Jóa (2014). [citation needed]
After being selected for the BEAM 2018 showcase [5], Coco Mbassi has written a musical called ‘Haendel on the Estate’ extracts of which were performed at Ovalhouse theatre in February 2019 as part of their First Bites Spring 2019 programme. [6]
The singer also recently played the part of ‘The Old Woman’ in Cervantes Theatre’s director Jorge de Juan García’s adaptation of Lorca’s famed play Yerma.[7]
References
- ^ https://www.ft.com/content/2a5328de-76b3-11e6-bf48-b372cdb1043a
- ^ https://musique.rfi.fr/musique/20011024-voix-coco-mbassi
- ^ Greenberg, Adam. "Biography: Coco Mbassi". Allmusic. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
- ^ https://genius.com/albums/Manu-dibango/Lion-of-africa
- ^ http://www.stratfordeast.com/whats-on/all-shows/beam-2018
- ^ https://www.ovalhouse.com/whatson/detail/haendel-on-the-estate-first-bite
- ^ https://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/2018/yerma-review-cervantes-theatre-london/