Senegal

(Fr. République du Sénégal).

Country in West Africa. It has an area of 196,190 km² and a population of 9·49 million (2000 estimate), approximately 92% of whom are Muslim. The Senegal river defines the northern boundary with Mauritania and eastern border with Mali. The Gambia river defines the country of the same name, which cuts through the middle of Senegal (see fig.1). The region south of The Gambia, called Casamance, is lush compared to the dry north. Senegal has undergone strong Islamic influence via its northern region in the Sahel, and early, prolonged European contact via its western border along the Atlantic coastline. The hereditary professional musician, oral historian and praise-singer (Griot) is prominent in the socially differentiated societies of the Wolof, Haalpulaaren (Tukulor, Toucouleur, FulBe or Fulani) and Mandinka. Senegal is well known for its drumming and dance traditions, especially the Wolof sabar ensemble, its Mandinka kora players and its wealth of urban popular music groups.

Information on ethnic groups in Senegal who are predominant in neighbouring countries is given in the articles on The Gambia and Guinea (Mandinka, FulBe), Guinea-Bissau (Balanta, Jola, Manjak or Mandyak), Mali (Maninka, Bamana or Bamara) and Mauritania (Moors or Maures).

See also FulBe music.

1. Ethnic groups, historical background and documentation.

2. Government institutions.

3. Main musical forms and features.

4. Modern developments.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ERIC CHARRY

Senegal

1. Ethnic groups, historical background and documentation.

When the Portuguese first reached West Africa, at the mouth of the Senegal river in the mid-15th century, they found a conglomeration of well-established states in the north-west (Jolof or Djolof, Walo, Bawol and Kajor or Cayor) associated with Wolof speakers, and Serer states (Sin or Sine and Saluum or Saloum) just north of the Gambia river that had been in existence for perhaps a few centuries. The Mandinka Kabu empire, centred in Guinea-Bissau with extensions north into southern Senegal and The Gambia, was at that time a tributary of the Mali empire. Smaller stateless peoples such as the Jola, Manjak and Balanta may have been pushed westwards to their present location in the Casamance due to Mandinka migrations from Mali.

In the mid-19th century the French began military campaigns inland, resulting in the formation of the colony of French West Africa in 1895, which included Senegal. As the sub-Saharan African country closest to Europe by sea, Senegal shows more French influence that most of West Africa, aided in part by close political ties with France.

Portuguese travel accounts dating from the mid-15th century, along with French and British accounts beginning in the early 17th century, provide sporadic descriptions of musical activity in Senegal. Plucked lutes, drumming and dancing, and the very public roles of griots as praise-singers and members of royal retinues were noted. Griots were often described as beggars, perhaps indicating a collapse of the traditional patronage system in the Senegambia region. Occasionally, reports show sympathy and marked insight into the roles of griots as verbal and musical artisans, in line with other artisan groups such as blacksmiths and leatherworkers. Photographs of musicians from the late 19th century may be found in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris (Fierro, 1986). The earliest sound recordings probably date from anthropologist Laura Boulton's expedition in the early 1930s.

Senegal

2. Government institutions.

Before independence, an important centre for the integration and dissemination of French culture, including popular music and theatre, was the Ecole Normale William Ponty, the first institution of higher education in French West Africa, drawing students from throughout West Africa. After World War I, Ecole Ponty, originally established to indoctrinate the sons of local rulers into French culture, trained interpreters, teachers and civil servants. After several relocations, it became the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Dakar. The most musically influential alumnus was the Guinean Fodeba Keita, founder of Les Ballets Africains. The hundreds of thousands of returning African soldiers who had fought in Europe during World War I and World War II were another important source for the importation of European culture and musical instruments.

Since independence in 1960, the Senegalese government has actively promoted performance and research in the local arts through several institutions. The Archives Culturelles, established in 1967, is charged with collecting photographs, slides, sound recordings of music and oral traditions, and films of local culture. The Ensemble Lyrique Traditionnel, specializing in traditional instrumental and vocal music, Ensemble National de Ballet la Linguere, the international touring dance group, and the Ensemble National de Ballet la Sira Badral, the domestic dance group, are all attached to the Daniel Sorano National Theatre, which was inaugurated in 1965. The Conservatoire de Dakar, established in 1948 as a centre for training in European music, has attracted musicians from neighbouring countries, especially Guineans who would become leaders in the modernization of their local musics in the late 1950s. Renamed the Ecole des Arts just after independence, it opened a division of traditional music offering training in kora, bala, riti, xalam and various drums. In 1978 its name changed again to Conservatoire National de Musique, de Danse, et d'Art Dramatique. A noted research institute for studies of sub-Saharan Africa called the Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire (IFAN) was founded in 1938 and is part of the University of Dakar (now called University Cheikh Anta Diop). Dakar was host to the first World Festival of Negro Arts in 1966.

Senegal

3. Main musical forms and features.

Certain musical traits are shared by neighbouring peoples, cutting across barriers of language and ethnicity, while others are markers of identity, unique to local communities. Major broad musical features distributed in varying ways include: hereditary professional musicians; fields of related musical instruments such as plucked lutes (in the north), calabash spike harps (in the south) and drums; Muslim-influenced vocal and instrumental styles; and drumming associated with fibre-mask figures (in the south).

Certain kinds of music-making, singing and speech are the exclusive domain of hereditary professionals called griots by the colonial French and Europeans, but known locally as gewel (Wolof), gawlo (Pulaar, pl. awlube) and jali (Mandinka, pl. jalolu). They are part of a larger artisan class known collectively as nyeenyo (Wolof and Pulaar) or nyamaalo (Mandinka), which can include blacksmiths, leatherworkers and weavers. Among the Mandinka there are also finolu (sing. fina: public speaker, genealogist, praiser), who do not sing. The artisan class is patronized by the other main class in these societies: non-artisanal freeborn leaders, warriors and farmers, known in local languages as geer (Wolof), dimo (Pulaar, pl. rimbe) and foro (Mandinka). Griots have adapted to new patronage systems by joining government-sponsored ensembles, appearing on radio and television and recording cassettes and CDs for local and international markets. Music-making in the smaller societies that predominate in the south is less professionalized.

Due to extended contact, close relationships may be found among the drumming traditions of the Wolof, Serer, Mandinka and Jola, with similar instruments and rhythms shared by several of these groups (for a chart of the distribution of musical instruments among ethnic groups see Table). Drumming in Senegal is dominated by the Wolof sabar ensemble, which has spread beyond its borders. The ensemble is open-ended, consisting of varying sizes and numbers of two different kinds of single-headed drums, all of which are played with one long thin stick and one bare hand. The nder (also called sabar) and mbung-mbung are open at the bottom and are higher pitched than the lambe, chol and gorong, which are heavier and are all closed at the bottom. In contrast to other parts of West Africa, the sabar ensemble has no accompanying bells or shakers. In the 1980s Doudou Ndiaye Rose launched an innovative sabar-based ensemble of several dozen players, including female in-laws, with great international success, conducting his ensemble through extensive memorized compositions.

The Mandinka drum ensemble known as seruba, named after a musical event in which they play, consists of three drums: the accompanying kutirindingo and kutiriba, and the lead sabaro. The method of attaching the head, similar to that on the Wolof sabar drums, and the name sabaro indicates a possible Wolof influence. FulBe from the Firdu region near eastern Gambia play a three-drum set identical to that of the Mandinka.

The tama, a small double-headed hourglass drum (fig.2), is played by the Wolof, and it is a prominent fixture in popular music groups. Mandinka jalolu, especially those with recent ties to Mali, also play the tama, as well as the junjung, a relative of the Malian dundun, which is also played in ensembles by Serer. The FulBe horde, a half-calabash, is usually played by an acrobat who strikes it with rings on the fingers holding the opening against his chest. Serer women use their bare hands to play large spherical calabashes with small holes at the top, and sing along. An upside-down calabash placed in a basin of water is also played by women. The Jola dance to the bugarabu, a set of three or four large drums played by a single person with bare hands usually wearing jingles on his wrists, often accompanied by women clapping long wooden blocks. One soloist playing several drums, such as the bugarabu, is rare in the Senegambia region. The jembe, more prominent in Mali and Guinea, is played by Bamana migrants in Tambacounda and in isolated communities elsewhere in the country. Through the Qadiriyya Sufi order, ensembles of large Arabic tabala drums are used during religious celebrations mixing Arab and Wolof traditions.

Two different frame xylophones are used in Senegal: the large Balanta kadj, local to the Casamance, played by two musicians on a single instrument, and the bala of Mandinka jalolu, an import from Guinea. Balanta xylophone music, with its use of parallel 3rds and frequent starts and stops, has exerted some influence on neighbouring Mandinka kora music and local guitar styles. Bassari (Basari) and Bedik (Budik) youth involved in initiation ceremonies play xylophones consisting of a few slats placed across the outstretched thighs, a hollowed tree trunk or a hole dug in the ground.

Two varieties of plucked lutes are played throughout Senegal: wooden trough-resonator lutes with fan-shaped bridges, such as the Wolof xalam, FulBe hoddu and Mandinka kontingo, all played by griots; and lutes with small calabash resonators and a cylinder-shaped bridge, such as the one-string FulBe molo. Wolof gewels play two sizes of xalam: nder (smaller, higher pitched, lead instrument) and bopp (larger, lower pitched, accompanying instrument). The riti, a one-string fiddle (fig.3), may be of Serer origin, or the Wolof name for the FulBe gnagnur (nyanyur) or moolar. The Koniagi (Konyagi) are the only Tenda group to play a fiddle (anyanyir), perhaps a borrowing from their FulBe neighbours. Calabash harps include the Mandinka kora played by jalolu, the Jola hunter's harp called esimbin, furakaf or simbingo, the Moorish ardin and the bolon, played by FulBe and others. The guitar is widespread and has absorbed local influences wherever it is played.

FulBe play the serdu (three-holed side-blown flute) over a wide geographic spread, and wind instruments such as flutes, whistles and trumpets are common among the Tenda.

The Senegalese Sahelian style of praise-singing closely associated with Wolof and Haalpulaaren griots in the north, as well as the Mandinka jalolu, who would have brought the tradition with them from Mali and Guinea, bears a marked concordance with Muslim vocal styles; it is monophonic, highly ornamented, melismatic, heptatonic and improvised. The style is typified by vocal soloists accompanied by one or two plucked lutes, such as the xalam, hoddu or kontingo, played by griots. This vocal and instrumental style is part of a larger widespread tradition through Mali and Guinea associated with the royalty of past empires. Although vocal intonation may be similar to that used in the European major scale, Wolof singing is marked by occasional tones lying between the flat and natural seventh degree, and the natural and sharp fourth degree. The strength of the various Sufi orders and their requisite literacy in Arabic helps to explain the influence of Muslim vocal aesthetics, but the nature of the transmission needs further documentation. The possibility that many muezzins may be drawn from the ranks of Wolof and Haalpulaaren griots deserves more attention. Heterophonic choral singing differing markedly from griot praise-singing can be heard among the Tenda.

The instrumental music of griots appears to have some degree of theoretical conformity despite language differences. For example, lutes are typically played in pairs with one assuming an accompaniment role and the other a leading role called ardin. Wolof xalam performances feature two kinds of playing: fodet, a basic melody played over and again, often with variations, and tukull, improvisatory interludes. This corresponds with the Mandinka kora terms kumbengo and birimintingo. The Wolof fodet and Mandinka kumbengo refer to both a tune (or accompaniment pattern) and a tuning. String music typically consists of melodies, a fixed number of beats long (often 8, 12 or 16), that are continuously repeated, often with subtle variations.

In the Wolof and Mandinka drum ensembles accompanying drums play short patterns, while one lead instrument interacts with dancers. Dancing usually takes place within a circle, with dancers emerging one or two at a time to confront the lead drummer for short periods, after which they run back to join the circle. Jola and Mandinka dance styles, with torsos bent forward and outstretched arms waving, differ significantly from Wolof styles, which feature straight backs, eyes focussed forwards or upwards, and great angular flexibility in the knees. Early detailed descriptions of singing, instrument playing and dancing can be found in M.J. de la Courbe (1913) and other French and British travel writings.

Praise-singing can typically be heard at public occasions, such as marriage celebrations and television or radio broadcasts. Major historical figures, such as El Hajj Umar Tall, the legendary Wolof ancestor Njanjan Ndiaye and 19th-century leaders Lat Dior, Alfa Yaya and Fode Kaba, have praise-songs dedicated to them that are usually accompanied by a variety of plucked lutes. Communal singing may occur in a religious Muslim context or among young people during rites of passage.

Typical occasions for drumming include circumcision and excision ceremonies, marriage celebrations and during agricultural labour. Professional wrestling matches are widespread in the Senegambia region and are also an important occasion for drumming. Wrestlers from different ethnic groups are often pitted against each other accompanied by their own drummers. In the Casamance and The Gambia figures wearing fibre-masks who dance to drumming associated with male circumcision ceremonies are widespread and mark the northern limit of West Atlantic mask traditions.

Senegal

4. Modern developments.

The growth of popular music in Senegal has followed similar patterns to that of neighbouring Guinea and Mali: sparse recording up to the time of independence; a strong Cuban influence in the 1960s; the gradual assertion of local musical traditions in the 1970s, and an emergence into the world arena in the mid-1980s with several artists holding major European and American recording contracts. A six-CD series (Senegal Flash) surveys some of the popular landscape of the 1970s and early 1990s. Numerous Senegalese bands were active in the 1970s and 80s, and many launched the solo careers of a large number of male vocalists. Some of the major bands include: Orchestre Baobab (formed in the early 1970s), which featured vocalist Thione Seck; Super Diamono, which featured vocalist Omar Pene; Toure Kunda, made up of brothers of Serahuli (Soninke) origin from the Casamance; and Xalam, who emigrated to France shortly after they were formed in the early 1970s. The most internationally renowned singers include Youssou N'Dour, Baaba Maal, Ismael Lo and most recently Kine Lam (a female gewel). Articles about these and other Senegalese groups appear regularly in the British monthly Folk Roots.

Popular female singers typically come from the ranks of griots, such as Wolof gewels, and are steeped in the traditional social relationships that encourage praise-songs to their freeborn patrons (geer, dimo or foro). Male singers, who often do not come from griot families, have embraced the griot tradition but have reshaped it to the modern Senegalese context, wherein the widespread Sufi marabout-taalibe (religious master-disciple) relationship provides an alternate model. Songs dedicated to Sufi leaders, especially the Mourid founder Shaykh Amadu Bamba Mbacke, are a favourite vehicle.

Senegal

BIBLIOGRAPHY

and other resources

Grove6 (‘Fulani Music’; D.W. Arnott)

L.J.B. Béranger-Féraud: ‘Etude sur les griots des peuplades de la Sénégambie’, Revue d'anthropologie, 2nd ser., v (1882), 266–79

M.J. de la Courbe: Premier voyage du Sieur de la Courbe fait à la coste d'Afrique en 1685 (Paris, 1913)

T. Nikiprowetzky: Trois aspects de la musique africaine: Mauritanie, Sénégal, Niger (Paris, 1966)

A. Samb: ‘Folklore Wolof du Senegal’, Bulletin de l'Institut fondamental d'Afrique noire, ser. B, xxxvii (1975), 817–48

J.T. Irvine and J.D. Sapir: ‘Musical Style and Social Change among the Kujamaat Diola’, EthM, xx/1 (1976), 67–86

C. Nourrit and B. Pruitt: Musique traditionelle de l'Afrique noire, iv: Discographie: Sénégal et Gambie (Paris, 1979)

L.G. Colvin: Historical Dictionary of Senegal (Metuchen, NJ, 1981, rev. 2/1994 with A.F. Clark)

L. Durán: ‘A Preliminary Study of the Wolof Xalam (with a List of Recordings at the BIRS)’, Recorded Sound, lxxix (1981), 29–50

M.T. Coolen: ‘The Fodet: a Senegambian Origin for the Blues?’, BPM, x/1 (1982), 69–84

M.T. Coolen: ‘The Wolof Xalam Tradition of the Senegambia;, EthM, xxvii/3 (1983), 477–98

R. Knight: ‘Manding/Fula Relations as Reflected in the Manding Song Repertoire’, AfM, vi/2 (1983), 37–47

A. Fierro: Inventaire des photographies sur papier de la société de géographie (Paris, 1986)

Carte d'identité des services du Ministère de la Culture à l'intention des jeunes (Dakar, 1986) [pubn of the Ministry of Culture, Senegal]

R. Graham: The Da Capo Guide to Contemporary African Music (New York, 1988)

J. Cathcart: Hey You! A Portrait of Youssou N'Dour (Oxford, 1989)

L. Durán: ‘Key to N'Dour: Roots of the Senegalese Star’, Popular Music, viii/3 (1989), 275–84

R. Graham: The World of African Music, ii (London, 1992)

P. Mark: The Wild Bull and the Sacred Forest: Form, Meaning, and Change in Senegambian Initiation Masks (Cambridge, 1992)

C. Panzacchi: ‘The Livelihoods of Traditional Griots in Modern Senegal’, Africa, lxiv (1994), 190–210

L. Villalón: Islamic Society and State Power in Senegal (Cambridge, 1995)

E. Charry: ‘West African Lutes: an Historical Overview’, GSJ, xlix (1996), 3–37

F. McLaughlin: ‘Islam and Popular Music in Senegal: the Emergence of a “New Tradition”’, Africa, lxvii (1997), 560–81

C. Panzacchi: Mbalax mi: Musikszene Senegal (Wuppertal, 1996)

E. Charry: Mande Music (Chicago, forthcoming)

recordings

Sound recordings from West Africa, French Sudan and British Cameroons, coll. L. Boulton, rec. 1934, Laura Boulton Collection EC 10395 to 10415; EC 12434 to 12454 (1934) [incl. notes and text trans.]

La musique des griots: Senegal, Ocora OCR 15 (1965) [incl. notes by T. Nikiprowetzky]

The Music of the Diola-Fogny of the Casamance, Senegal, Folkways F–4323 (1965) [incl. notes by J.D. Sapir]

Sénégal, musique des Bassari, Chant du Monde LDX 74753 (1981) [incl. notes by M. Gessain]

Lions of Dakar, videotape, dir. A. Brice, Gessler (New York, 1990)

Wolof Music of Senegal and The Gambia, Folkways FE 04462 (1991) [incl. notes by D.W. Ames]

Mandinka Drum Master, Village Pulse VP 1001 (1992)

Music of the Mande, videotape, dir. R. Knight, Original Music (Tivoli, NY, 1992)

Sabar Wolof: Dance Drumming of Senegal, Village Pulse VP 1003 (1992)

Tabala Wolof: Sufi Drumming of Senegal, Village Pulse VP 1002 (1992)

Le chant des enfants du monde, i: Guinée, Senegal, Arion 64359 (1993) [incl. notes by F. Corpataux]

Djabote: Senegalese Drumming and Song from Master Drummer Doudou N'Diaye Rose, videotape, dir. E. Millot and B. Soulé, Transatlantic Video (Montpelier, VT, 1993)

You, Africa!, videotape, dir. N.M. Ba, California Newsreel (San Francisco, 1993)

Musique des Peul et des Tenda, Ocora/Radio France C 560043 (1994) [incl. notes by V. Dehoux]

Senegal Flash, Melodie 38903 to 38908 (1995)

Balanta Balo: Solo Drumming of Senegal, Village Pulse VPU 1006 (1996)

Bougarabou: Solo Drumming of Senegal, Village Pulse VPU 1005 (1996)

Drums of the Firdu Fula, Village Pulse VP 1004 (1996)

Sona Senghor and his Troupe: Lost Africa, Tradition TCD 1044 (1997)