Mansour Seck - N'der Fouta Tooro (Vol. 1)
1994

Featuring Ousmany Hamady Diop
With special guest Baaba Maal

Brought to you by TQMP
The Quality Music Project

Dust and dry wood - one minute parched, desolate, empty, the next peopled with improbable vocal harmonies and generous layers of kora and ngoni, the music of Mansour Seck reaps the maximum effect from its soul-building dramas. Voices, harsh and gentle, slice through the air like blades or breathe laments, supported by the sensitive atmospheric fingertips of Seck. Insistent guitar rhythms sneak up from behind, winding up into a full-blown hypnotic groove - the perfect setting for three exceptional voices: Mansour Seck, Baaba Maal and Ousmane Hamady Diop. 
-- CD back cover notes

"He and I have different characters - he's a guitarist and I'm a singer. So when we work together on arrangements we complement each other". Baaba Maal comments on his longstanding musical arrangement and personal friendship with Mansour Seck.

Seck has been a constant feature in Baaba Maal's band, Dande Lenol, since its inception. He appears on many of Baaba's albums, including his two biggest acoustic successes, Djam Leeli and Baayo. Yet little is known about the guitarist who has generally, perhaps understandably, been cast in a supporting role for the exceptional voice of his musical soulmate. On this album, however, it is Mansour who takes the lead, with Baaba appearing alongside him on one of the tracks. 

N'der Fouta Tooro is the name of the region which stretches across parts of Northern Senegal and Mauritania, from which the three principal musicians on this album come. Seck and Maal are from the same town, Podor. They grew up together and Mansour, who is a griot, was instrumentai in introducing Baaba Maal to a whole spectrum of musics as they travelled and sejourned together with griot families all over West Africa. They were together in a group of traditional musicians, dancers, and performers from their home, formed in Dakar. After the Dakar Conservatory, Maal went to Paris to learn more about Westem music and arrangements. He saved all his money from performances for the Senegalese in Paris until he could afford to bring over Mansour Seck and two other guitarists. The group they formed in Paris played in restaurants and community centres, for the love of the music, gaining a formidable wealth of experience. One of the songs from this period was Dande Lenol (Voice of the People) which later stuck as the name of the band. It was at this time, in 1984 that Maal and Seck recorded the seminal Djam Leeli.

Seck toured in the USA with Baaba Maal and Dande Lenol and in 1989, during their UK tour, they were filmed for BBC2's Rhythms at the World series. Baaba Maal explains the special bond that exists between them and acknowledges the debt he owes to his friend. 'For my people, the Toucouleurs, friendship is very important. It helps us deal with life, tackle life's problems and share in each other's good fortunes. Mansour is a griot by birth. It was he who introduced me to other griot families. With Mansour I was able to discover many things which would have been impossible for me to discover on my own. He already had problems with his sight and I did all I could for him. I became his eyes. We helped each other a lot."

The album's other vocalist, Ousmane Hamady Diop, born on the other side of the River Senegal from Seck, in Mauritania, is also a griot. Among his sponsors is Concorde Gaye, the well-known multi-millionaire and celebrated patron of the West African griots, with whom he travelled the world as his personal singer. Diop had produced many successful cassettes in his own right, before linking up with Seck for these joint recordings. He sings Elimane Baubacar Kane and Fisco Kanate, songs in praise of patrons; Saukabe Leydam, in which he exhorts the youth to work together for economic recovery and Allah Wata Ka Hana, a traditional Guinean song in praise of modesty. 

Mansour Seck's songs celebrate the qualities that his people, the Peuls, hold most dear. Kairaba is a hymn to peace and concord, while friendship is the theme in songs like Almany Bocoum, Ndiaye Binta Ndiaye and Quinze Ans and loss and remembrance are the subject of Tabakaly, a tribute to his dead wife. 

Passionate and intense, powerful and sensitive, N'Der Fouta Tooro is an exciting step forward for Mansour Seck, deservingly focussing attention on the talents of this musician who has for so long remained in the background. 
-- CD liner notes

This record doesn't sound like purposely made for the western ear and that can only be a plus. It was produced by Ibrahim Sylla so that probably explains. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Sylla

Track List
01 - Almamy Bocoum
02 - Allah Wata Ko Hana
04 - Fisco Konate
05 - Tabakaly
06 - Soukabe Leydam
07 - Ndiaye Binta Ndiaye
08 - Quinze Ans
09 - Elimane Boubacar Kane

Artwork, EAC log and CUE sheet included.

Audio format: FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) 
https://flac.sourceforge.net/index.html 

Enjoy, seed and inhale!

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