Mansour Seck (12 May 1955 – 29 May 2024) was a Senegalese singer and musician best known for his collaboration with lifelong friend

Baaba Maal Baaba Maal (, born 13 June 1953) is a Senegalese singer and guitarist born in Podor, on the Senegal River. In addition to acoustic guitar, he also plays percussion. He has released several albums, both for independent and major labels. In July ...

. He has also toured and released several solo albums. Seck was blind.

Biography

Seck was born into the

griot A griot (; ; Manding languages, Manding: or (in N'Ko script, N'Ko: , or in French spelling); also spelt Djali; or / ; ) is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician. Griots are masters of communicatin ...

caste, traditionally of low status and associated with singing, story telling and playing musical instruments. From childhood, Seck has been a close friend of

, and in 1977 the two musicians travelled to explore the musical traditions of Mauritania and Mali. Maal went to study Music in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

, and in 1982, he received a scholarship to study at the

École des Beaux-Arts ; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...

in Paris. Once established there Maal invited Seck and two other musicians to join him. They formed a band which became known as ''Dande Lenol'' (The People's Voice) and played mainly to the Senegalese immigrant communities of Paris. Seck was the band's primary guitarist. The album "Djaam Leeli" (1984) is from this early time together. As their confidence grew, they toured in the US together with Seck's first solo release coming in 1994. Mansour Seck played alongside

as part of ''Dande Lenol'' at the

WOMAD WOMAD ( ; World of Music, Arts and Dance) is an international arts festival. The central aim of WOMAD is to celebrate the world's many forms of music, arts and dance. History WOMAD was founded in 1980 by English rock musician Peter Gabriel, w ...

Festival at Charlton Park on 29 July 2007. Seck died in Dakar on 29 May 2024, at the age of 69.

Discography

*1984 – '' Djam Leelii'' (with

) –

Mango Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

*1991 – ''Baayo'' (with

) –

*1994 – ''N'Der Fouta Tooro, Volume 1'' – Stern's Africa *1995 – ''N'Der Fouta Tooro, Volume 2'' – Stern's Africa *1995 – '' The Rough Guide to West African Music'' –

World Music Network World Music Network is a UK-based record label specializing in world music. The World Music Network website features news, reviews, live music listings, and guide sections on world music. It also features an online "Battle of the Bands" competi ...

*1997 – ''Yelayo'' – Stern's Africa *1999 – '' Unwired: Acoustic Music from Around the World'' – World Music Network *2013 – '' The Rough Guide to the Music of Senegal'' – World Music Network

References

The Leopard Man's African Music Guidecalabashmusic.comBiography of Baaba Maal at RFI

External links

Seck and Maal being received into Afropop's 'Hall of Fame'
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Seck, Mansour 1955 births 2024 deaths Senegalese guitarists 21st-century Senegalese male singers 20th-century Senegalese male singers People from Saint-Louis region