Entertainer, musician, composer, dancer, choreographer, author and educator Njacko

Backo shares his uplifting music, energizing dance, and hope-filled stories with audiences

of all ages and all walks of life. Njacko was born in Cameroon in 1958 and raised in the

hills in a small village called Bazou, which means “The Walkers.”

Njacko’s feet first landed on Canadian soil in 1989 when he moved to Montréal with his

family and started working with many African musicians and dancers. In 1990 Njacko

created his band

Kalimba Kalimba to introduce the kalimba to all generations and to give

everyone the opportunity to enjoy its sweet soothing sounds. Njacko moved to Toronto in

1998 where he recreated his band Kalimba Kalimba. In 1999, Toronto-based Music Africa

presented Njacko Backo and Kalimba Kalimba their prestigious Fiati Memorial Award for

Best Traditional Performance. Since that time, Njacko has grown his band’s sound to

include a world flavour by blending traditional instruments (kalimba, djembe, ngoni,

balafon) with more modern sounds (bass guitar, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, accordion, flute,

drum kit, cello, bagpipes, sitar, dilruba, grand piano, oboe) and other traditional percussion

(bata from Cuba, tabla from India, udu, cajon).

To date, Njacko has independently released eleven full length albums, three drumming

instruction CDs, a drumming instruction DVD, and a DVD with nine music videos. Njacko

won the first prize in the

17th Annual Billboard World Song Contest for his song Afrique

Réveille Toi. He also was recognized for his song Mama Oh with honourable mentions

from both the

2006 International Songwriting Competition (world music category) and

the

15th Annual Billboard World Song Contest.