Mamar Kassey | |
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| Origin | Niamey, Niger |
| Genres | Afro-jazz fusion. |
| Years active | 1995–present |
Mamar Kassey is a jazz-pop-ethnic band from Niger. It is named after Askia Muhammad I, a legendary warrior who extended the Songhai Empire into the Sahara.
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Mamar Kassey | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Niamey, Niger |
| Genres | Afro-jazz fusion. |
| Years active | 1995–present |
Mamar Kassey is a jazz-pop-ethnic band from Niger. It is named after Askia Muhammad I, a legendary warrior who extended the Songhai Empire into the Sahara.
The band's leader is singer and flautist Yacouba Moumouni. The group combines traditional Zarma-Songhai, Hausa and Fula [1] and rhythms, instruments such as the molo (a lute with a skin-covered body), and modern instruments such as the electric bass. Their sound also incorporates western jazz, Moroccan and Latin music.
An eight-piece group [2] formed by Moumouni and guitarist Abdallah Alhassane in 1995, Mamar Kassey have released two albums internationally and toured Europe and the United States multiple times. They came to attention in France after an appearance at the Festival des Nuits Atypiques in Langon in 1998.
They are one of the few Nigerien musical acts known internationally, and much beloved in their home country.[ citation needed ]
In 2004–2005, musicians from Mamar Kassey toured with a group of Breton folk musicians under the name Makida Palabre. The collaboration included Breton musicians Pierre-Yves Prothais, Ronan Le Gourierec, Laurent Carré, and Youen Paranthoen playing Breton/Celtic, western jazz, and West African instruments. [3]
| Music of Niger |
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The members of the band have changed over the course of the group's existence. The group that performed at the Festival des nomades in Benin in 2000 included: [4]
The music of Mali is, like that of most African nations, ethnically diverse, but one influence predominates: that of the ancient Mali Empire of the Mandinka. Mande people make up around 50% of Mali's population; other ethnic groups include the Fula (17%), Gur-speakers 12%, Songhai people (6%), Tuareg and Moors (10%).
Guinea is a West African nation, composed of several ethnic groups. Among its most widely known musicians is Mory Kanté - 10 Cola Nuts saw major mainstream success in both Guinea and Mali while "Yeke Yeke", a single from Mory Kanté à Paris, was a European success in 1988.
Since the early 1970s, Brittany has experienced a tremendous revival of its folk music. Along with flourishing traditional forms such as the bombard-biniou pair and fest-noz ensembles incorporating other additional instruments, it has also branched out into numerous subgenres.
The music of Niger has developed from the musical traditions of a mix of ethnic groups; Hausa, the Zarma-Songhai, Tuareg, Fula, Kanuri, Toubou, Diffa Arabs and Gurma and the Boudouma from Lac Chad.
A griot is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician.
Askia Muhammad I (1443–1538), born Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr al-Turi or Muhammad Ture, was the first ruler of the Askia dynasty of the Songhai Empire, reigning from 1493 to 1528. He is also known as Askia the Great, and his name in modern Songhai is Mamar Kassey. Askia Muhammad strengthened his empire and made it the largest empire in West Africa's history. At its peak under his reign, the Songhai Empire encompassed the Hausa states as far as Kano and much of the territory that had belonged to the Songhai empire in the east. His policies resulted in a rapid expansion of trade with Europe and Asia, the creation of many schools, and the establishment of Islam as an integral part of the empire.
Yacouba Moumouni is a Nigerien singer and flautist. As the leader of the jazz-ethnic band Mamar Kassey, he is one of the best-known Nigerien musicians outside Niger. He is from the Songhai ethnic group.
Gnawa music is a body of Moroccan religious songs and rhythms. Its well-preserved heritage combines ritual poetry with traditional music and dancing. The music is performed at lila, communal nights of celebration dedicated to prayer and healing guided by the Gnawa maalem, or master musician, and their group of musicians and dancers. Though many of the influences that formed this music can be traced to West African kingdoms, its traditional practice is concentrated in Morocco. Gnawa music has spread to many other countries in Africa and Europe, such as France.
Joel Cohen is an American musician specializing in early music repertoires. Cohen graduated from Classical High School in Providence, Rhode Island in 1959, and Brown University in 1963. He continued graduate education at Harvard University. From 1968 to 2008, he was the director of the Boston Camerata, a prominent American early music ensemble. He remains connected to the Boston Camerata as Music Director Emeritus. Cohen founded the Camerata Mediterranea in 1990 and incorporated it as a nonprofit research institute in France in 2007. He plays the lute and guitar, as well as sings. He is best known as an organizer and creator of concert programs and sound recordings. He has also written extensively on musical topics. In recent years, Cohen's research and performance activities have centered on early American repertoires, as well as Southern European repertoires of the Middle Ages. Many of his projects in this latter category involve collaboration with Middle Eastern musicians.
Christophe Rousset is a French harpsichordist and conductor, who specializes in the performance of Baroque music on period instruments. He is also a musicologist, particularly of opera and European music of the 17th and 18th centuries and is the founder of the French music ensemble Les Talens Lyriques.
Daniel Laemouahuma Jatta is a Jola scholar and musician from Mandinary, Gambia, who pioneered the research and documentation of the akonting, a Jola folk lute, as well as the related Manjago folk lute, the buchundu, in the mid-1980s. Prior to Jatta's work, these instruments were largely unknown outside the rural villages of the Senegambia region of West Africa.
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Nicolas Vallet was a French lutenist and composer who emigrated to the Dutch Republic.
François-Xavier Paul Roth is a French conductor, who founded Les Siècles, an orchestra which performs on instruments appropriate to the period of composition of each piece, from the late Baroque and Classical eras to 20th century music.
Alexandre Tharaud is a French pianist. He is active on the concert stage and has released a large and diverse discography.
Moulaye Dicko, better known by his stage name Dicko Fils, is a Burkinabé musician of Fulɓe origin. He sings and plays the kamale n'goni.
Sylvain Beuf is a French jazz saxophonist, composer, and arranger.
Frank Braley is a French classical pianist.
Waed Bouhassoun is a Syrian singer and oud player. She has released four solo albums of traditional Syrian music, and toured internationally since 2010. She is a founding instructor-performer for the project "Orpheus XXI – Music for life and dignity," supporting refugee musicians in Europe. In 2018, she was made a chevalier (knight) of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
The Songhaiborai or Songhayboray are a distinct subgroup within the larger Songhai ethnolinguistic family. Residing predominantly in Niger's Songhai region, Northern Mali, and a minority presence in Burkina Faso. Notably, they trace their lineage to the ruling dynasties of the ancient Songhai Empire.
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