Mamman Sani Abdoulaye is a Nigerien-Ghanaian musician. He first recorded his electronic organ music in 1978 but it remained largely obscure and undiscovered until 2013. He is considered to be an early pioneer of synth music in Niger. Sani found unlikely fame in Denmark, regularly appearing in the playlist of Copenhagen bars.

Early life

In 1952, Mamman Sani was born in

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

to a privileged family. His father, of

Nigerien The demographic features of Nigeriens, the people of Niger, consist of population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. The largest ethnic groups ...

descent, was the son of a

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Colonel. Sani's mother was

Ghanaian The Ghanaian people are a nation originating in the Gold Coast (region), Ghanaian Gold Coast. Ghanaians predominantly inhabit the Republic of Ghana and are the predominant cultural group and residents of Ghana, numbering 34 million people as of ...

and the daughter of a chief. At the end of the 1950s his family moved to

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

, where his father became a librarian for the American Cultural Center, which gave him exposure to cultural materials from all over the world.

Musical career

Sani began to play music in 1968. He was a fan of

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

, and

Percy Sledge Percy Tyrone Sledge (November 25, 1940 – April 14, 2015) was an American R&B, soul and gospel singer. He is best known for the song " When a Man Loves a Woman", a No. 1 hit on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and R&B singles charts in 19 ...

. After being an English teacher for some years, he got a job as a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

functionary. In his role at UNESCO, Sani began to travel internationally. During a UNESCO meeting, Mamman purchased an Italian

Orla Orla may refer to: Places *Orla, Missouri, USA *Orla, Texas, USA *Orla, Jharkhand, India *Orla, Podlaskie Voivodeship (north-east Poland), a village **Gmina Orla, a commune centred on the village * Orla, Krotoszyn County in Greater Poland Voivodes ...

electronic organ from a delegate from Rwanda. His first professional experience as a musician was being hired by Niger's national television station to compose credits and interludes for their shows. At the time, Sani was still employed by UNESCO. In 1978 he recorded his first album at Niger National Radio in two takes. It was released as a limited series of cassettes. In 2013, Christopher Kirkley, an American musician and producer with a specialty in

Sahelian The Sahel region (; ), or Sahelian acacia savanna, is a Biogeography, biogeographical region in Africa. It is the Ecotone, transition zone between the more humid Sudanian savannas to its south and the drier Sahara to the north. The Sahel has a ...

music, discovered Mamman's recordings while searching through the musical archives of the Niamey museum. Kirkley described hearing Mamman's music: “It was esoteric and bizarre, unlike anything I had ever heard—the imaginary audio track to an arcade game of desert caravans trek through an pastoral landscape of 8-bit acacias and pixelized sand.” That year Kirkley released the recordings through his Portland-based record label

Sahel Sounds Sahel Sounds is an American record label, based in Portland, Oregon, which specializes in music from the southern part of the Sahara desert. Details Sahel Sounds was founded by Christopher Kirkley, a self-declared "amateur ethnomusicologist", who ...

, as "La Musique Electronique du Niger".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sani, Mamman 1952 births Living people