Ekambi Louis Brillant was born on 18 June 1948 in Dibombari. He is the son of Ekambi Brillant, businessman and cultural entrepreneur, from Dibombari and Ekambi, Claire from Djébalè. His nickname is "Mot'a Munenya" (big man), which is appropriate considering that through his use of piano, wind and string instruments, he has made a significant contribution to the development and renewal of Makossa music.
Shortly after birth, his mother became seriously ill, so the newborn had to be cared for by his grandmother in Djébalè. As a child, he was introduced to music in the church choir. In 1962, he went to the General Lyceum Leclerc in Yaoundé. There he took his first serious steps on the path of music. His French music teacher, Zane Daniel, gave him his first guitar lessons and taught him to read music. In 1968, he used his summer holidays for the first time to perform in the cabarets of Douala. In 1971, at the age of 21, he dropped out of school to perform with the group Les Crack's in nightclub Le Domino. During this period, he abandoned the guitar and performed mainly as a singer of French chansons, blues and rock.
In those early years, he had doubts about his qualities as a singer. He once said about this:
"Actually, I did not want to be a singer in the band, but our singer - who was also the drummer - no longer wanted to sing all evening. The band leader then suggested that I should give it a try, but I was ashamed of it in the beginning because my voice sounded so hoarse".
The group played at school parties and toured all the cabarets between Douala and Yaoundé. In 1971, he won a talent contest organised by the Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française (ORTF) with the song Djongele la ndolo ( Thoughts of my beloved). By winning this prize, he got the opportunity to release Djongele la Ndolo as his first single with DECCA France. The single became a great commercial success. It sold 20,000 copies. Not long after, he left Les Crack's to start a solo career.
♫ Audio: 1971 Djongele la ndolo / Ngon’Aboh 6:44His first solo concerts took place at the Centre Culturel Français in Douala and at the cinema in Wouri (Douala). Shortly afterwards, he left for Paris with bassist Jean Dikoto Mandengue to record his second single for Phonogram, which had given him a recording contract. With 25,000 copies sold, this record did even better than his first.In 1973 he performed alongside, among others, Nelle Eyoum, Manu Dibango and Francis Bebey at the Premier Festival de la Chanson Camerounaise in Yaoundé. He then met a group of young musicians les Black Sounds from Ndjaména with whom he performed for some time.
At that time, he attracted the attention of Slim Pezin, the renowned guitarist and producer of many successful artists such as Johnny Halliday, Michel Sardou and Manu Dibango. In 1974, Brillant broke his contract with Phonogram and allied himself with Slim Pezin who released his first LP under the title Africa Oumba with the song Elongi, which would later be covered by many artists from all over the world. The album became a huge success and earned him a diamond record by selling more than 5 million copies. Several of the Slim Pezin-produced songs from the album were also released as singles, reaching the top 10 in several countries.
♫ Video Clip: 1975 – Ekambi Brillant – Ndutu 3:00 (LP Africa Oumba)
♫ Video Clip: 1975 – Ekambi Brillant – Cameroon Airlines 4:21
♫ Audio: 1975 – Ekambi Brillant – Aboki 4:41 (LP Africa Oumba)
In 1976, he formed his own band to accompany him: Les Ebis (Ekambi Brillant Show), which included the later greats Valery Lobé (drums) and Aladji Touré (bass). In the same year, he became manager of the nightclub Le Castel. With the release of the LP Ashiko Edingue, he left the club again to go on tour with his band.
♫ Audio: 1976 – Ekambi Brillant – Soul Castle 1:46 (LP Ashiko Edingue)
♫ Audio: 1976 – Ekambi Brillant – Ngal’a Tanda 2:57 (LP Ashiko Edingue)Following the success of his album, he toured extensively in Africa where he met the singer Cella Stella in Benin. She followed him to Paris, where he became her producer and arranger. He released her album on the label Jengou Records, which he had founded. He had also written the songs for this album. Cella Stella was born in Ivory Coast and grew up in Benin. Because she did not speak a word of Douala, Ekambi Brillant taught her to sing in that language. The album was released in 1980 and was well received in Cameroon. After Cella Stella, Ekambi Brillant helped many starting artists with Jengou Records. The best known of these is the later African diva Angelique Kidjo. In 1981, Jengou Records released her first album, produced and arranged by Ekambi Brillant.
♫ Audio: 1979 – Ekambi Brillant – La Vie 5:23 (LP Great Bonam)
In 1990, Ekambi left Cameroon and emigrated to the US. There, together with Vincent Nguini, he founded the group Les Malako Boys, with which he performed at festivals all over America. He settled in California where he studied cinematography and harmony. In 2000, he returned to Cameroon where he hosted a popular monthly show on the national Cameroonian television channel (CRTV), the Super Ekambi Brillant Show.
In 2016 and 2017, London-based record label Africa Seven brought Ekambi Brillant's music back to the attention of an international audience. The first album was a 2016 reissue of Brillant's legendary first LP Africa Oumba, after which in 2017 they released a compilation album of older, mostly funky songs entitled African Funk Experimentals 1975 - 1982.
♫ Live: 2016 – Ekambi Brillant 40 ans de show : 1:26:55
At the end of 2020, Ekambi Brillant, together with Toto Guillaume, gave two major concerts in Douala and Yaoundé under the title ‘La Saga de Géants. With these concerts he launched his Fondation Ekambi Brillant, which aims to restore the music of Cameroon to its former glory. Ekambi Brillant recently told in an interview that after the death of Manu Dibango, at the age of 70, his urge to preserve his musical legacy for posterity became even stronger. With his foundation, he wants to leave an infrastructure of music schools and other facilities that will guarantee the professional development and guidance of young, musical talent in Cameroon in the future.
Brillant died on 12 December 2022, at Laquintinie hospital, Douala, aged 74, after a battle with a long-term illness.
DISCOGRAPHY
45 RPM Singles
33 RPM LP's & CD's
