Anthology

BAABA MAL is a Senegalese acoustic guitarist and percussionist. Although he was expected to become a fisherman like his father, Maal devoted himself to a life of music. His world music style incorporates salsa, rap and Breton harp music.

He went to study music at the university in Dakar before leaving for postgraduate studies Beaux Arts in Paris. After returning from study in Paris, Baaba studied traditional music with his blind guitarist and family griot, Mansour Seck, and began performing with the band Daande Lenol. Maal came into his own with 1994’s Firin’ in Fouta, which fused reggae, salsa and Breton harp music to create a popular sound that launched the careers of Positive Black Soul, a group of rappers, and also led to the formation of the Afro-Celt Sound System. His fusion tendencies continued on 1998’s Nomad Soul, which featured Brian Eno as one of the producers.

He was also featured on two tracks “Hunger” and “Still” on the Black Hawk Down soundtrack and has played at Bonnaroo and the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival.

Baaba Maal will place great emphasis on dialogue during this show, sitting onstage with renowned journalist Chris Salewicz to discuss his personal experiences growing up in Africa and travelling the world, his views on issues facing Africa and the African diaspora, as well as other assorted issues of the day. Audiences can expect a unique and intimate event, an evening full of surprises.