ABOUT THE MUSICIANS

YERMANDE /YAIR-mann-day/ noun (Wolof)

Affection, compassion, love, sympathy, mercy

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.

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A person with dreadlocks wearing traditional and modern clothing, standing outdoors in front of a wooden structure, playing a drum.
Aba Diop wearing a traditional Baye Fall njaxas, ndombo baats, and standing with his traditional mbeng mbeng sabar percussion, outside in Dakar.

Aba Diop was born to play sabar.

A griot’s griot, his father was griot, as was his father’s father, as was his mother’s father, and both his grandparents’ parents: wisdom-keepers of the talking drum. Even in Senegal, where Aba lives and works, this unbroken lineage is a rarity.

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West African Sabar Fusion

Aba Diop & The Yermande Family and the various constellations of performer groups all have in common the sabar drum, its rhythms, and a captivating live performance at the heart of the music.

Sabar drums have been a communication device with the ability to relay messages from village to village for miles. The percussion sounds are very much a language which communicates messages of healing and praise: the call-and-response stories and codes of thousands of years of oral tradition.

Rhythmically the music is influenced by traditional West African polyrhythms, the modern, Latin-influenced syntax of Senegalese pop music known as “mbalax,” and Aba’s own original compositions.

Melodically you hear the Sufi-influenced hovering microtonal singing and maqam scales accompanying the elastic, improvisational guitar styles found in the rock and jazz music of the west.

The overall effect is deeply mystical, uplifting, and undeniably dance worthy.

A group of nine musicians dressed in colorful African clothing, holding various traditional and modern musical instruments, standing outdoors on a brick surface with a cityscape and cloudy sky in the background.

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.

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Aba Diop & the Yermande Family (L-R: Noumoucounda Cissoko, Aba Diop, Jason Hosier) wearing a traditional Baye Fall njaxas, ndombo baats, and standing with sabar, kora, and guitar, outside in Dakar.

The Aba Diop Trio

Aba Diop, Noumoucounda Cissoko and Jason Hosier are a power trio transmitting a new genre of West African sabar fusion music featuring the propulsive rhythms of Diop’s sabar drum percussion, the kora, a 21-stringed double-bridged African harp-lute played by the renowned Cissoko, and the elastic fluidity of Hosier’s jazzy, meditative guitar riffs.

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Aba Diop & Jason Hosier wearing a traditional Baye Fall njaxas, ndombo baats, and standing outside in Dakar.

Aba Diop & Jason Hosier

Aba Diop and Jason Hosier’s duo project blends West African sabar rhythms and vocals with jazzy, lyrical guitar melodies in an unexpected emulsion of polyrhythmic fusion.

This unusual collaboration is a conversation between tradition and modernity, between east and west, both acoustic and electric, where the listener is invited into the adventure unfolding in the songs.

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THE ARTISTS

  • Master Senegalese sabar percussionist Aba Diop is dressed in colorful traditional Baye Fall clothing with a large Baye Fall necklace, holding a traditional Senegalese sabar drum on his shoulder. He is outdoors, with buildings in the background.

    ABA DIOP

    LEAD, PERCUSSION, VOCALS

  • Man wearing traditional attire with a gold embroidered robe, black cap, and multiple necklaces, holding a musical instrument over his shoulder on a rooftop with buildings and trees in the background.

    NOUMOUCOUNDA CISSOKO

    KORA, VOCALS

  • A young man with short, tousled brown hair and light skin, smiling and holding a light green electric guitar. He is wearing a colorful sleeveless sports vest, a patterned neck scarf, and a harness. Background shows a large decorated egg or sculpture.

    JASON HOSIER

    GUITAR

  • A man with dreadlocks wearing sunglasses and colorful clothing, sitting among green leaves, holding a small stick and wearing traditional jewelry.

    SAMBA NDOKH

    TAMA

  • A man wearing a black beanie and black shirt, smiling, holding an electric guitar, with a tiled roof and a cloudy sky in the background.

    CHRISTIAN OBAM

    BASS

  • Close-up of a smiling woman with short curly brown hair, wearing gold earrings, a gold necklace with a pendant, and a blue and white patterned off-the-shoulder dress, standing against a plain gray background.

    ZEYNA DIOP

    VOCALS

  • A man with dreadlocks smiling, wearing a colorful patchwork long-sleeve shirt and a beaded necklace with a pendant of a person's face, standing outdoors against a backdrop of trees and buildings.

    KHADIM GUEYE

    PERCUSSION

  • Smiling man with long dreadlocks, wearing sunglasses, a patterned scarf, a colorful patchwork shirt, and making a peace sign against a blue sky.

    MBACKE SENE

    PERCUSSION

  • Man with long dreadlocks, wearing traditional African jewelry and attire, smiling outdoors with urban background.

    AZIZ MBEYE

    PERCUSSION, SABAR CARE

  • A woman with long, wavy bright pink hair smiling, wearing a black lace top with a sheer neckline.

    ADJA SECK

    DANCER

  • Close-up of a smiling Black woman with long curly black hair, showing her teeth, wearing a gold necklace with a 'LOVE' pendant, rings, and pink and white nail polish, holding a black lace garment.

    ASTOU NIANE

    DANCER

  • A man with glasses and a beard wearing a beige hoodie with a world map print, standing in a room with yellow walls and some people at a table in the background.

    LAMP

    MASTER ENGINEER