Sufi Sounds, volume three

Posted September 30th, 2008 at 10:23 pm (UTC-4)
12 comments

Our next installment of Sufi sounds from Africa takes us East to Mali, home to some of West Africa’s most iconic Muslim sites; the Great Mosque of Djenne-the world’s largest mud brick building-is an architectural masterpiece, the mystical city of Tombouctou has been a renowned center of Islamic learning since the 15th century. And although today Muslims make up around 90% of Mali’s population, the worldviews of many Malians still accommodate the pre-Islamic beliefs that are deeply rooted in the country’s different regional cultures.

Since the 9th century there have been several different Islamic waves that have washed across the Malian Sahara, pushing south into the Sahel. Berber and Tuareg merchants from Northern Africa, whose commercial success often depended on the strength of their religious networks, first brought Islam to Mali in the 9th century. This first wave of conversions was followed by a second that came in the wake of the twenty-five year reign (1312-1337) of Mansa Musa, one of the most powerful and devout king’s of the Mali Empire. His wealth and fame reached beyond the shores of the Sahara and drew Muslim scholars, artisans, architects and traders to his capital of Niani. The third, and perhaps most dramatic wave (it wasn’t until the twentieth century that Islam became the religion of the majority of Malians) came from the Senegal River valley. El Hadj Umar Tall was born, around 1797, in the heart of the Futa-Tooro, the region that straddles the Senegal-Mauritania border, and that remains home to the Fulani people, who formed the backbone of his religious and military empire. A devout adherent of the Tijjaniya brotherhood, El Hadj Umar kicked off, in 1848, a jihad that lasted until his death in 1864. And it was after his defeat of the Kingdom of Ségou, on March 10, 1861, that many Bambara –the culturally dominant ethnic group in Mali- converted to Islam.

Today, Ségou remains a center of Bambara culture and a very devout city. This first cassette features Sekou Cissé, who goes by the nickname ‘Sekoublé’. He is a member of the Tidjane brotherhood, and although he still lives in Ségou, rarely performs anymore in public. These recordings were probably made some time in the 1980s. He sings spiritual advice inspired by the teachings of the Koran.

Soufi Drissa Dembélé also comes from the region of Ségou; he was born 60 miles north in the town of Niono. He is a member of the Qadiriyya brotherhood and a follwer of Sufi Yaya Dembélé, a preacher and teacher from Markala (20 miles downriver from Ségou). He started composing and singing professionally in 1999, and has released two cassettes.

Soufi Drissa Dembélé described his music to me as ‘Zhikr’, and sings in both Bambara and in the Miniyanka dialect of Senoufo (his mother-tongue). He currently lives in Kouthiala, and performs primarily throughout southern Mali (he as also been invited to perform for Qadir festivities in Burkina Faso and Guinea). These next two tracks are off his first cassette, which was released in 2006.

Although Sufi brotherhoods have been an important part of Malian Islam for centuries, Sufi Drissa Dembélé is part of a new generation of Malian Sufis, with their own style of worship, who first started to draw attention in the early 1990s. Drawing inspiration from the Baye Fall of Senegal, and in some cases from West African Rastafarianism, this new generation of urban Sufis-previous generations of Malian Sufis were more concentrated in rural areas- have created a syncretic style of worship that reflects Malian pop culture.

Nouhoum Dembélé started his career, back in 1986, singing popular secular music. He was also born in Ségou, and grew up there in a religious family. It was after his mother passed away that he decided to devote himself entirely to religious music. Like his mother, he is a disciple of Cherif Ousmane Madani Haidara, Mali’s most famous and charismatic preacher; Haidara is a mega-star, whose religious ‘revivals’ fill soccer stadiums. In 2005 he self-produced this first cassette release. He performs throughout Mali, and has been invited to perform at events in Burkina Faso and the Cote D’Ivoire. He is currently working on his second cassette.

These next two tracks by Souleymane Diarra feature some beautiful singing, by both Souleymane Diarra and the female choir. I haven’t yet been able to get in touch with Souleymane Diarra, but I think he is a Tidjane, and I am pretty sure this is his first cassette.

Interestingly, the cassettes by both Dembélés and this one by Souleymane Diarra all feature similar instrumentation; ensembles built on the rhythmic foundation of a calabash, and fleshed out by ‘ethereal’ keyboard playing. (Don’t let the keyboards discourage you! All of these tracks feature some great vocals.)

El Hadj Hamado Kanazoe is one of my favorite African Sufi singers. He is not from Mali, but from Burkina Faso. He was born in Mané, not far from the town of Kaya, in north-central Burkina Faso, and since 1970 has been living in Ouagadougou. El Hadj Kanazoe started singing when he was 12 years old and has released 15 studio recordings.

He is the most famous performer of Wazu music, a style that alternates chanting of the Koran in Arabic, with moral commentary in Mooré, the language of the Mossi people. El Hadj Hamado Kanazoe is a disciple of the Tidjani leader Cheikh Aboubakar Doukouré.

This post draws on interviews conducted with Nouhoum Dembélé, Soufi Drissa Dembélé, and El Hadj Hamado Kanazoe, with special thanks to Agathe Diamma and Samuel Kiendrebeogo for their interpreting help. Next up Cote D’Ivoire, Benin and Nigeria.

12 responses to “Sufi Sounds, volume three”

  1. Anonymous says:

    very good

  2. Anonymous says:

    very interesting sounds..of course its African!

  3. Anonymous says:

    Great. How about more information on Toumani Diabete?

  4. d'anmustapha says:

    Very nice! Please upload more on El Hadj Kanazoe Hamado or other wazu if you can. I am absolutely entranced by the richness of sound and harmony in this purely Mossi version of quranic reading.

    Its a big shame that these centuries old West African-Islamic practices like this may be in danger of being uprooted by sunni practice from the Arab world, whose advocates may disparage these as “unislamic” or “unorthodox”. Look what has happened to the sharia states in northern Nigeria and the decline of the once rich musical culture of the Hausa due to it.

  5. post-everything says:

    Hamado Kanazoe
    is the most interesting and inspiring to me.
    so much beauty and complexity in such a minimalist concept.

    unfortunately i can’t enjoy the yamaha/sony/korg/etc. keyboard arrangements of the other artists. too bad they choose to ruin (for me at least!) their music by using those plastic toys (which sound the same all over the world).

    but thanks for sharing, great site, keep it up!

  6. Thanks for this post, I’m a big fan of this site would like to go on updated.

  7. SAVADOGO Mahamadi says:

    As salam alaykoum

    May The almighthy bless the author of this post. I’m in Ouagadougou , the capital city of Burkina Faso. I really like the manner Cheick Ahmad Kanazoe reads The holy Coran. I attended islamic class in Sunni school in Cote d’Ivoire but I found soufi songs very inspirative for the soul. This song talks to heart and soul.

    May you forgot to add Soufi bilal from mali singers from your list?

    The orthodox, The sunni islam can’t move the soul. The Djihadists teachings are far fromtrue islam wich lead to “Rahmatan lil alamin” peace, good neighberhood for mankind.

    Unfortunately, the events occuring in Tombouctou, Kidal (north mali) are destroying this inestimable treasury.
    Thank a lot for this post. Good bless

  8. What i don’t realize is in fact how you are no longer really a lot more neatly-appreciated than you might be right now. You are very intelligent. You realize thus significantly when it comes to this subject, produced me in my opinion consider it from so many varied angles. Its like men and women aren’t involved until it is one thing to accomplish with Lady gaga! Your own stuffs great. Always care for it up!

  9. MMO says:

    Very interesting points you have observed , thankyou for putting up. “Women have been trained to speak softly and carry a lipstick. Those days are over.” by Bella Abzug.

  10. Steam Keygen says:

    Hi there! I have actually appreciated studying your site especially this post. There are few online marketers that check out the hard work to completely post quality content like that. No matter what you have your brand-new, faithful readers! Thanks a lot

  11. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYzC9YVTZWE

    …and found the Nouhoun Dembele, at least part of it… see also my comments for the other SUFI SOUNDS posts…

    Hope anyone who finds some of the other stuff will update, b/c “sharing is caring.”

    =D

About

About

Heather Maxwell produces and hosts the award-winning radio program “Music Time in Africa” and is the African Music Editor for the Voice of America. Heather is an ethnomusicologist with Doctorate and Master’s degrees from Indiana University specializing in African Music. She is also an accomplished jazz and Afrojazz/Afrosoul vocalist and has been working, researching, and performing in Africa and the U.S. since 1987.

The Leo Sarkisian African Music Collection >>

Latest Selection

Sidebar Playlist

Listen to Archived Music from 2007-2013