Mola Sylla (born

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 ...

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

, 1956) is a

ese musician. He moved to Europe in 1987 and lives in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. He is a singer and plays such traditional African instruments as the ''

mbira Mbira ( ; ) are a family of musical instruments, traditional to the Shona people of Zimbabwe. They consist of a wooden board (often fitted with a resonator) with attached staggered metal Tine (structural), tines, played by holding the instrument ...

'', '' kongoma'' (Senegalese

lamellophone A lamellophone (also lamellaphone or linguaphone) is a member of the family of musical instruments that makes its sound by a thin vibrating plate called a lamella or tongue, which is fixed at one end and has the other end free. When the musician ...

), ''

xalam Xalam (in Serer, khalam in Wolof, and Mɔɣlo in Dagbanli) is a traditional lute from West Africa with 1 to 5 strings. The xalam is commonly played in Mali, Gambia, Senegal, Niger, Northern Nigeria, Northern Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mauritania ...

'', and ''

kalimba Mbira ( ; ) are a family of musical instruments, traditional to the Shona people of Zimbabwe. They consist of a wooden board (often fitted with a resonator) with attached staggered metal tines, played by holding the instrument in the hands and ...

''.

Sylla has collaborated with a wide variety of musicians, including in

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and cross-cultural settings. He has worked with

Ernst Reijseger Ernst Reijseger (born 13 November 1954) is a Dutch cellist and composer. He specializes in avant-garde jazz, free jazz, improvised music, and contemporary classical music and often gives solo concerts. He has worked with Louis Sclavis, Derek ...

, with whom he composed the score to

Werner Herzog Werner Herzog (; né Stipetić; born 5 September 1942) is a German filmmaker, actor, opera director, and author. Regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema, his films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with unusu ...

's 2005 film '' The Wild Blue Yonder''. He is a founding member of the groups Senemali (a collaboration between Senegalese and

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

an musicians) and VeDaKi (formerly Vershki da Koreshki, a quartet made up of Senegalese, Russian, and Indian musicians).

Discography

With Vershki Da Koreshki *''Vershki da Koreshki'' (Al Sur, 1996) *''Real Life of Plants'' (Shanachie, 1997) With Vedaki *''Gombi Zor'' (Vedaki Records, 1999) *''Samm'' (Vedaki Records, 2008) With Volkovtrio *''Much Better'' (Green Wave Records, 1998) With Vladimir Volkov *''Seetu/Mirror/Зеркало'' (Long Arms Records, 2002) With

*''

Janna Janna (Kannada : ಮಹಾಕವಿ ಜನ್ನ) was one of the well-known Kannada poets of the early 13th century who also served in the capacity of a minister and a builder of temples. He graced the court of Hoysala empire King Veera Ba ...

'' (Winter & Winter, 2003) *'' Requiem for a Dying Planet'' (Winter & Winter, 2006) With Ernst Reijseger and Harmen Fraanje *''Down Deep'' (Winter & Winter, 2013) *''Count til Zen'' (Winter & Winter, 2015) *''We Were There'' (Just Listen, 2020)

External links

Mola Sylla official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sylla, Mola 1956 births Living people 21st-century Senegalese male singers Musicians from Dakar Musicians from Amsterdam 20th-century Senegalese male singers Senegalese emigrants to the Netherlands