Aba Diop & The Yermande Family

Yermande Family is a Senegalese supergroup formed by master sabar percussionist and griot lineage holder Aba Diop.The band has a rotating all-star membership to accommodate various configurations but no matter the constellation, the live performances are electrifying and wholly unique: never before has “sabar” like this been offered to a world stage.

“Yermande” is a Wolof language word that means to have a good heart that wishes for all people to be treated like family.

“Everyone in front of us is our family.”

— Aba Diop

A Senegalese music ensemble led by the visionary sabar performer, composer and arranger Aba Dop, Yermande Family consists of tama vanguard player Samba Ndokh on the “talking drum,”“The Jimi Hendrix of kora” Noumoucounda Cissoko coruscates on African harp, the virtuosic U.S.-based Jason Hosier channels jazzy, meditative riffs on guitar, Cameroonian Christian Obam stays deep in the pocket on bass, the renowned drummer Alioune Seck rounds out the group with Khadim Gueye, Aziz Mbaye, and Mbacke Sene all on percussion chorus.

Together, the band is a visual feast that manages to both transport adventurous ears while touching the deep earth of our common humanity. The music channels ancient heartbeats with a modern soul, erupting from the stage with prismatic precision and elevated consciousness.

Yermande Family exists to bring the healing medicine of the sabar ensemble to a broader audience through the rhythms that literally speak to the hearts of the listener: each beat is a word, an incantation of longing for a world where everyone is cared for, where everyone is family.

YERMANDE /YAIR-mann-day/ noun (Wolof)
Affection, compassion, love, sympathy, mercy