Maal, Baaba

found: All music guide WWW site, Mar. 31, 2003(Baaba Maal; b. 1953, Podor, Senegal; singer and guitarist)

found: Dictionary of African Biography, accessed March, 10, 2015, via Oxford African American Studies Center database:(Maal, Baaba; popular singer, Senegalese musician; born 12 November 1953 in Podor, Senegal; attended École des Arts school, Dakar; visited Mauritania, Guinea, Mali, Ivory Coast, on a two-year journey; well-known figure in Senegal, Europe in early 1980s; received musical education in Paris, Conservatoire des Beaux Arts (1982); created his own group, Daande Lenol (“The Voice of the People”), Pulaar (1985); tour in Europe (1986-1987), recorded the album Wango (1988); performed as solo artist, with traditional Senegalese instruments, 21-string kora, four-string hoddua lute; became activist and a musical icon in 1st decade of 21st century; created a new music festival in Senegal, Les Blues du Fleuve (2006); was involved in social causes; performed at 2007 concert dedicating proceeds to antimalaria campaigns; United Nations named him youth ambassador; spoke at world climate summit, Copenhagen (2009), warned that Africans were suffering because of global warming; one of the most memorable West African musicians of late 20th - early 21st centuries)

found: The Guardian (online), Mansour Seck obituary, 14 June 2024, viewed August 19, 2024(Senegalese guitarist and singer Mansour Seck, best known for the crucial role he played in the career of Baaba Maal, his longtime friend; unlike Maal, Seck was a griot, and he transformed Baaba's style by teaching him griot songs; together they recorded Djam Leelii, the 1989 album that launched Maal's career, with acoustic guitars and vocals in halpulaar, the language of the Fulani of northern Senegal; Seck later became a key member of Maal's band, Daande Lenol, with whom he toured the world) - https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/jun/14/mansour-seck-obituary