Jimi Mbaye

Last updated April 11, 2019

Mamadou "Jimi" Mbaye is a Senegalese guitarist best known for his work with Youssou N'dour.^[1] Mbaye has developed a unique Senegalese guitar style in which he makes his Fender Stratocaster sound like local instruments such as the kora or xalam.

Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is a country in West Africa. Senegal is bordered by Mauritania in the north, Mali to the east, Guinea to the southeast, and Guinea-Bissau to the southwest. Senegal also borders The Gambia, a country occupying a narrow sliver of land along the banks of the Gambia River, which separates Senegal's southern region of Casamance from the rest of the country. Senegal also shares a maritime border with Cape Verde. Senegal's economic and political capital is Dakar.

Fender Musical Instruments Corporation is an American manufacturer of stringed instruments and amplifiers. Fender produces acoustic guitars, electric basses, bass amplifiers and public address equipment, but is best known for its solid-body electric guitars and bass guitars, particularly the Stratocaster, Telecaster, Precision Bass, and the Jazz Bass. The company was founded in Fullerton, California, by Clarence Leonidas "Leo" Fender in 1946. Its headquarters are in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The kora is a 21-string lute-bridge-harp used extensively in West Africa.

Style

Mbaye is different from other guitarists because of his unique style. Youssou Ndour said "No one, no one plays guitar like Jimi Mbaye. His playing style is unique". Mbaye succeeded in transposing the African traditional sounds of khalam (Ngoni) and kora onto his electric Fender Stratocaster. Carlos Santana and Mbaye met during a tour in Los Angeles where Carlos acknowledged that: "Jimi is a very special and incredible guitarist".

Jimi has also proven to be a good singer, very melodic, a true harmonicist.

Albums

Mbaye has released three solo albums, "Dakar Heart", "Yaye Digalma" and "Khare Dounya". The latter was recorded in Jimi's new studio Studio Dogo, in which he produces other artists.

Early years

At ten years old Mbaye built his first guitar out of fishing line and gasoline cans. At twenty he'd scraped up enough money to buy a secondhand Fender Stratocaster. Mbaye was just as determined to get a guitar as he was to make it in the competitive Dakar music scene.

Early on he met Youssou N'Dour and together they became rising stars on Senegal's club scene, playing mbalax music. They created the "Super Etoile" band together in 1981 and have been musically inseparable for all these years.

Later works

Mbaye recorded six top-selling major-label albums with N'Dour before taking a leave of absence to record his own solo album, released in 1997, "Dakar Heart". Recorded at N'Dour's Studio Xippi, "Dakar Heart" features N'Dour's band "Super Etoile". Mbaye is back at N'Dour's side and is very much an integral part of Youssou's "Super Etoile" band these days. In fact, Youssou often travels abroad with only Mbaye as acoustic guitar accompanist, as he did in June, 1998 for performances in Paris as guests of Brazilian performer Gilberto Gil at the Olympia Theatre.

A member of Youssou N'Dour's Super Etoile Band since 1979, Mbaye is one of Senegal's most influential guitarists. Often compared to Jimi Hendrix and Robert Johnson, Mbaye has forged a unique blend of traditional Senegalese roots music and American pop and R&B. Recording a solo album, Dakar Heart, with help from Super Etoile Band musicians in 1997, Mbaye showcased his inventive, kora-derived guitar playing and singing in Wolof, English, and French. Billboard called him "a prodigious world talent," while Rhythm referred to him as "one of Senegal's most exciting musicians." Music has played an ongoing role in Mbaye's life. As a youngster, he performed on a self-invented instrument made from discarded garbage cans and nylon fishing line in the streets of Dakar. By the age of 20, he had graduated to a Fender Stratocaster electric guitar. Mbaye continues to be the backbone of N'Dour's band. In addition to co-writing the 1994 single "Mame Bamba," he has made valuable contributions to six N'Dour recordings. Mbaye and N'Dour have increasingly performed as a duo. In 1998, they opened the show for Brazilian guitarist Gilberto Gil at the Olympic Theater in Paris.

Mbaye is one of Africa's greatest guitarists. He has played in Youssou N'dour's Super Etoile since 1979. Now he has a solo album, Dakar Heart, on which he sings as well as plays guitar. The album is available from Shanachie Records, catalog #64094. In Europe, it's distributed by BMG France. Dakar Heart skillfully blends Senegalese mbalax with American pop & R&B for a powerful new sound.

Critic's reviews

Here's what some of the critics are saying about Dakar Heart:

UCLA DAILY BRUIN (Los Angeles) Oct. 13, 1997

"Poetic and achingly beautiful, Dakar Heart takes 'world music' to new heights. Alternately political and personal, and always passionate, the record reveals Mbaye as a true artist and lyricist. His songs are filled with love, hope and a desperate cry for peace, whether it be peace between nations or peace with one's soul. Dakar Heart is an elegant masterpiece."

BILLBOARD magazine, Oct. 4 1997

"The solo debut for Youssou N'dour's guitarist Jimi Mbaye shines a deserved spotlight on a prodigious world music talent."

RHYTHM MUSIC magazine, March 1998

"Mbaye continues to prove he is one of Senegal's most exciting musicians"

RHYTHM MUSIC magazine, March 1998

'Jimi Mbaye is a Senegalese guitarist best known for his work with Youssou N'dour. Mamadou 'Jimi' Mbaye has developed a unique Senegalese guitar style in which he makes his FenderStratocaster sound like local instruments such as the kora or xalam. Jimi has released three solo albums, "Dakar Heart" and "Yaye Digalma" and in 2012 he released “Khare Dounya”. He has his own studio, Studio Dogo, in which he produces albums for other artists. The second album called “Yaye Digalma” is a real masterpiece in which Jimi shows he’s a great singer. It’s a very melodic album doubled with an arsenal of arrangements. He covered a duet by Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush entitled “Don’t Give Up”, singing both parts.'

Collaborations

The third album called “Khare Dounya” was released in 2012. “Khare Dounya” means “Fight for Life”. He recorded this album with his band “Group Dogo”. It’s an album where Mbaye shows really his musicality. He started to tour with his band around the country (Senegal) and the West African region.

Since he had his studio Mbaye often collaborated with many artists from Africa and the rest of the world. We remember the album Daxaar with the late jazz drummer Steve Reid recorded in Mbaye’s studio Dogo in Dakar.

He’s friendly with many musicians. During gigs he would rehearse with other artists to create new songs they could record later to advance their own careers.

He often produces albums for musicians in Senegal. And sometimes he perform with them.

Now Mbaye has quit Super Etoile de Dakar to work on his own solo career and has started to tour with his "Group Dogo", all around the world. Mbaye has rejoined Super Etoile in 2017. He played in Bercy 2017 together with Habib Faye

Related Research Articles

Youssou NDour Senegalese politician and singer-songwriter

Youssou N'Dour is a Senegalese singer, songwriter, composer, occasional actor, businessman, and politician. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine described him as, "perhaps the most famous singer alive" in Senegal and much of Africa. From April 2012 to September 2013, he was Senegal's Minister of Tourism.

Senegal's music is best known abroad due to the popularity of mbalax, a development of Serer sabar drumming popularized by Youssou N'Dour.

Ibrahima Sylla was a Senegalese record producer born in Ivory Coast and founder of the African music label Syllart Records. He was an internationally acclaimed musician whose production and music direction defined popular African music. From West African dance, to Congolese Soukous, to melodic griot-led songs, Sylla's signature as a music producer is unmistakable. He has demonstrated his familiarity with many contemporary African musical genres, and he has worked with most of Africa's musical greats.

Orchestra Baobab is a Senegalese band established in 1970 as the house band of the Baobab Club in Dakar. Many of the band's original members had previously played with Star Band de Dakar in the 1960s. Directed by timbalero and vocalist Balla Sidibe, the group features saxophonists Issa Cissoko and Thierno Koité, two singers, two guitarists and a rhythm section with drums, congas and bass guitar. Since their formation, the band has predominantly played a mix of son cubano, Wolof music, and to a lesser extent Mande musical traditions.

The Wolof, the largest ethnic group in Senegal, have a distinctive musical tradition that, along with the influence of neighboring Fulani, Tukulor, Serer, Jola, and Malinke cultures, has contributed greatly to popular Senegalese music, and to West African music in general. Wolof music takes its roots from the Serer musical tradition, particularly from the Serer pre-colonial Kingdom of Saloum. Virtually all Wolof musical terminology including musical instruments comes from the Serer language.

Thione Ballago Seck is a Senegalese singer and musician in the mbalakh genre. Seck comes from a family of "griot" singers from the Wolof people of Senegal. His first job was with Orchestre Baobab, but he later formed his own band, Raam Daan, which he still heads.

Ashley Maher is a Canadian singer and songwriter who has meshed the rhythmic impulses of West Africa and Latin America with Western song structures.

Julia Sarr is a Mezzo-soprano born in Dakar (Senegal) from the Serer ethnic group. As one of the most sought after backing vocalists, she has worked with several prominent artists over the years including Youssou N'Dour, Lokua Kanza and Patrice Larose.

Mbaye Dieye Faye is a singer and percussionist from Senegal.

Ismaël Lô is a Senegalese musician and actor. He was born in Dogondoutchi, Niger on 30 August 1956, to a Senegalese father and a Nigerien mother. Shortly after Lo's birth the family returned to Senegal where they settled in the town of Rufisque, near the capital Dakar. He plays guitar and harmonica, and has been called "the Bob Dylan of Africa".

Alioune Mbaye Nder is a Senegalese singer. Nder takes his name from the n'der, the drum favoured by his griot father.

Habib Faye was a bassist, keyboardist, guitar soloist, arranger, composer and Grammy-nominated producer from Senegal. He was mostly known as the musical director for Youssou N'dour's Super Étoile de Dakar. He was one of the most talented African bassists of the last quarter-century.

<i>Egypt</i> (album) 2004 studio album by Youssou NDour

Egypt is a Grammy Award-winning album by the Senegalese musician Youssou N'Dour, on which he is accompanied by the Egyptian Fathy Salama Orchestra. By incorporating Arabic influences and focusing on Muslim religious themes, the album was a departure from previous N'Dour releases. In the original Senegalese release, it was named Sant Allah.

<i>Immigrés</i> 1988 studio album by Youssou NDour

Immigrés is a 1984 album by Senegalese singer and percussionist Youssou N'Dour. AllMusic remarks that the album is "a good part of what put [N'Dour] on the international map".

Raam Daan is a mbalax band from Senegal. Founded in 1974 by Thione Seck, Raam Daan has risen to become one of the most popular mbalax bands in Senegal.

Étoile de Dakar were a leading music group of Senegal in the 1970s.

The Njuup tradition is a conservative Serer style of music rooted in the Ndut initiation rite.

Soriba Kouyaté (1963–2010) was a Senegalese kora player. He was born in Dakar, the son of kora player Mamadou Kouyaté.

References

↑ Mamadou, Diop (3 November 2017). "Bercy 2017 : Youssou Ndour en pleine répétition avec Jimmy Mbaye et le Super Etoile" (in French). Galsan 221. Retrieved 7 November 2017.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Mamadou, Diop (3 November 2017). "Bercy 2017 : Youssou Ndour en pleine répétition avec Jimmy Mbaye et le Super Etoile" (in French). Galsan 221. Retrieved 7 November 2017.