WOMAD

Modou Diouf with Binta Badjie

From Senegal

Modou Diouf is an incredibly talented drummer from Senegal, who plays a traditional Senegalese drum called a Sabar. The drum is similar in size to a Djembe, but unlike the two handed playing technique of the Djembe, the Sabar is played combining stick and hand. At Womad 2006 he will be leading a Sabar dance workshop accompanied by his step daughter Binta Badjie. Modou Diouf was born in 1960 into a family of Gewel Musicians, (The Griots of Northern Senegal). Modou’s family were all born into the music of the Sabar Oulof, a particular form of drumming once reserved for Senegalese royalty, but now found more widely in the Senegambia region of West Africa. Today, Sabar music is found at all kinds of social events such as; weddings, births and other rites of passage, as well as popular events such as wrestling matches. In 1988 Modou went to The Gambia, married, and is now settled there, living near the busy market town of Brikama. In 1995, Modou had his first chance to tour internationally, playing with Abdel Kabirr (a well known Gambian singer and Composer) and his band Revival. A UK tour included a performance on the Jazz Stage at the Glastonbury Festival. Following this first break, he toured Italy in 1996 with Lamine Ndiaye (a Lion Dancer in Senegambia), where they performed the Simba, a traditional Lion dance from Senegal.In 2005 , Modou Diouf and his percussion group, O Fogum, completed an exciting UK tour including performances at pretigious concerts such as LIVE 8 Africa Calling at the Eden Centre, BBC Africa Live at the British Museum and the Womad 2005 Reading Festival.