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. [1]
Julia launched her singing career based on West Africa's polyrhythmic signatures rooted in her Serer heritage [2] with Fela Kuti (Fela Anikulapo Kuti) who was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer as well as the pioneer of Afrobeat music. [3]
Julia became one of the most sought-after backing vocalist in Paris where she has lived for over twenty years working with artists like Jean-Jacques Goldman, Michel Fugain, MC Solaar, Julio Iglesias and the celebrated Senegalese singer Youssou N’Dour. [4]
For several years, Julia Sarr had shared the stage and studio with the Congolese singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer Lokua Kanza. [5] She has also worked with Jean-Claude Petit (the French composer and arranger) singing in a cappella in his score for Raoul Peck's film Lumumba (2010) starring Eriq Ebouaney.
After nurturing her solo aspirations and songwriting quietly for years, Julia partnered with Patrice Larose, a flamenco-inspired French guitarist with whom she has released an album titled "Set Luna" [5] (on the No Format! and Universal Jazz labels in Europe and on the boutique label Sunnyside Records in the United States). [1] "Set Luna", from the Wolof language translates to "So I’ve Observed" which they performed in the United States at the Carnegie Hall on 24 October 2005 to great reviews. [6]
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Youssou N'Dour is a Senegalese singer, songwriter, musician, composer, occasional actor, businessman, and politician. In 2004, Rolling Stone described him as, "perhaps the most famous singer alive" in Senegal and much of Africa and in 2023, the same publication ranked him at number 69 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time. 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 conservative music from different ethnic groups and sabar drumming popularized internationally by Youssou N'Dour.
Mamadou "Jimi" Mbaye is a Senegalese guitarist best known for his work with Youssou N'dour. 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.
Mbalax is the urban dance music of Senegal and the Gambia. The musical style is rooted in the indigenous instrumental and vocal styles accompanied by polyrhythmic sabar drumming of the Wolof, a social identity that includes both the original Wolof people of the Greater Senegambia region and the urban panethnic identity that arose during colonialism. A cultural value proved by Wolof is their one's and respect of other cultural and musical practices. Therefore the origins of mbalax include a fusion of Wolof, Soce, and Serer music, rhythms, and instrumentation. The Wolof ability to include the diverse styles from Senegambian groups has allowed the sabar and its modern music formation to thrive. It is not uncommon, for example, for a sabar event to include music of the Serer such as the njuup, which is connected to sacred ndut rite ceremonies. In this way many ethnic groups may participate and the inclusion also increases the accessibilyt and popularity of the genre. In the 1970s, mbalax arose as Senegalese fused indigenous music styles with urban dance music from the African diaspora, the West, and the continent. These foreign sounds included U.S. soul, jazz, and salsa. Afro Cuban musics from the diaspora, Congolese rumba, and rock were also fused with the rhythms of sabar that were now played on the electric bass, guitar and keyboards.
Ashley Maher is a Canadian singer and songwriter who has meshed the rhythmic impulses of West Africa and Latin America with Western song structures.
Pascal Lokua Kanza, known professionally as Lokua Kanza, is a Congolese singer, songwriter, arranger, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is known for his soulful, folksy sound, which is atypical of the dancefloor-friendly African rumba music that is common in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. His proficiency in blending different musical styles and cultural influences has made him a celebrated artist, admired for his distinctive and evocative musical creations. He sings in French, Swahili, Lingala, Portuguese, English, and Wolof. He was a member of the coaching panel of The Voice Afrique Francophone from 2016 to 2017.
Alioune Palla Mbaye dit « Nder » is a Senegalese singer. Nder takes his name from the n'der, the drum favoured by his griot father.
Cheikh N'Digel Lô is a Senegalese musician.
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.
Knitting Factory Records is an independent American music label that is notable for promoting a variety of artists, including the music of deceased Nigerian political activist Fela Kuti. The label promotes a variety of music artists including Ages and Ages, Ash Black Bufflo, Cuong Vu, Graham Haynes, Femi Kuti, Gary Lucas, Lumerians, Thomas Chapin, Patrolled By Radar, Joe Morris, Rachid Taha, Seun Kuti, and Shilpa Ray and her Happy Hookers.
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.
Jean-Philippe Rykiel is a French composer, arranger, and musician, primarily a keyboard player. He has been blind since his birth, a result of negligence in the hospital incubator, and is the son of fashion designer Sonia Rykiel.
Sylvain Luc was a French jazz guitarist.
Star Band is a music group from Senegal that was the resident band of Dakar's Miami Club. They, along with the many off-shoots of the band, are responsible for many of the crucial developments in Senegalese popular music. They were formed in 1959 by the owner of the Miami Club, Ibra Kasse. As was typical in Africa at the time, Kasse owned the instruments and was the band leader of the Star Band although he only occasionally played piano. Each one of the band's twelve albums released in Senegal featured a photo of Kasse on the back cover stating that he was the band leader, composer and arranger.
The Gabonese people have forged since the independence of the country, in 1960, their own culture which is neither the traditional culture of the different ethnic groups which compose it, nor modern Western culture. It is a culture in movement, a mixture of diversity and common traits, bringing together the most diverse beliefs and practices.
Cheick Tidiane Seck is a Malian musician, arranger and composer. He has written for and played with African artists including Fela Kuti, Mory Kanté, Salif Keita, Youssou N'Dour and for jazz bands. He has also collaborated with musicians Damon Albarn and Mamadou Diabate.
Titi, also known by her real name Ndeye Fatou Tine, is a singer from Senegal. Her name of Titi comes from a nickname given to her as a child by her uncle. She started her career as a dancer but was inspired by Youssou N'Dour and moved on to becoming a singer. As a dancer she performed with Papa Ndiaye Thiou and also appeared in music videos of Senegalese stars such as El Hadji Faye and Pape Djiby Ba.
Yandé Codou Sène was a Senegalese singer from the Serer ethnic group. She was born in 1932 at Somb in the Sine-Saloum delta and died on July 15, 2010, at Gandiaye in Sénégal. She was the official griot of president Léopold Sédar Senghor. Most of her music is in the Serer language.
Steve Shehan is a French-American percussionist and music composer.
Bambay Gueej is an album by the Senegalese musician Cheikh Lô. It was released toward the end of 1999, with an international release in 2000. Lô supported the album with a European tour.
