Baaba Maal

Podor and Paris

Baaba Maal was born in Podor, on the Senegal River, and was expected to follow his father into fishing. Instead he fell in with Mansour Seck, a blind guitarist from a family of griots, who became his lifelong friend. Maal learned music from his mother and his school's headmaster, studied in Dakar, and then went to Paris. He sings mainly in Pulaar, the language of the Fulani of northern Senegal, and promotes the traditions of the Pulaar-speaking people of the old kingdom of Futa Tooro.

Seck was a griot, a hereditary keeper of his people's songs and stories, and Maal was not. The Guardian's obituary of Seck says he transformed Maal's style by teaching him griot songs. The two made a long field trip through Senegal, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast, staying with griot families, before moving to Paris. There they formed Dande Lenol, a name that means The People's Voice, and played mainly to Senegalese immigrant communities in the city.

Djam Leelii

In 1984 Maal used money from local gigs to bring Seck to Paris, and the pair recorded Djam Leelii for sale on cassette in West Africa, not for western audiences. Lucy Duran heard the tape in the Gambia and passed it to Charlie Gillett, who played it on Capital Radio, and John Peel played it on Radio 1. Ian A. Anderson, the editor of Folk Roots, became obsessed with it and released it on his own label, Rogue, in 1989. A Maal and Seck concert at the Hackney Empire in November 1988 was filmed by the BBC and broadcast early the next year. The magazine Folk Roots named the album its best of 1989.

Mango and the fusion years

By Baayo (1991) Maal was a soloist signed to Chris Blackwell's Mango label, with Seck still on guitar and vocals. Lam Toro (1992) was the fRoots critics poll's album of the year, opening with Yela. Firin' in Fouta (1994), produced by Simon Emmerson, mixed ragga, salsa and Breton harp music, featured the rappers Positive Black Soul on Swing Yela, and was nominated for a Grammy in the Best World Music Album category. Its songs include Sidiki, African Woman and Sama Duniya. It also led to the formation of Afro Celt Sound System, whose first line-up included Massamba Diop, the talking drum player in Maal's band.

Nomad Soul (1998) followed, with Brian Eno as one of seven producers, and opened with Souka Nayo. It reached number 33 in Australia.

Roots, film and Being

Missing You (Mi Yeewnii) (2001), produced by John Leckie, returned to acoustic roots, with Seck again on guitar. Television followed in 2009. In 2016 The Traveller, made with Johan Hugo of The Very Best and Winston Marshall of Mumford & Sons, brought Auto-Tune and electronics to songs such as Fulani Rock. Maal's voice is also heard in Ludwig Göransson's score for Black Panther and its sequel Wakanda Forever. Göransson went on tour with him in Senegal for a week, and the film's introduction to Wakanda was inspired by a ceremonial outcall Maal opened his shows with.

Being (2023) was his first album in seven years, led by Yerimayo Celebration, whose title translates as the fisherman's celebration and points back to Podor. In April 2023 he was named a Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. Seck died on 29 May 2024, aged 69. In 1998 the Prince Claus Fund honoured Maal, and on 7 July 2007 he played the Live Earth concert in Johannesburg. In 2016 he launched Nann-K, a charity that helps people from Senegal and other African countries pursue agricultural careers. Seck's final appearance was in Nouakchott, three months before his death.