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Ernesto Djedje was one of the most innovative and successful artists Cote d‘Ivoire has ever produced
(L to R) Ernesto Djedje in 1977; Statue of Djedje at the entrance of Insaac (school of Arts) Cocody, Abidjan [(L to R) Analog Africa; Ariel Palmon/CC]

A RISING star in the 1960s, when he became the guitar player and leader of the group Ivoiro Star, Ernesto Djedje set out to modernise Ivorian music and popularised the ziglibithy style of music, a pulsating hot mix of makossa and funk.

In 1968 he headed for Paris to record his first singles, arranged and produced by Manu Dibango and influenced by US soul, the music of Cameroon and Zaire as well as traditional Ivorian music.

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