taara

Seyni Diop was born in Dakar, Senegal in 1975, into a large family of artists and musicians. He started playing the bass and guitar at the age of 14 in his own home with his father and brother-in-law. He played pop, blues, rock and sixties and seventies music with his dad, Bello and was taught the bass by his brother-in-law, Itou Dieng. At eighteen years old he started to play with friends, and they formed their first band. After many gigs in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, he became highly regarded in the music world and started to perform and record with the big bands at the time. In 1999 he established his own band TAARA and went onto to record a live album with Fatou Gewel and Youssou N'Dour in 2004. He toured England with Laye Sow in summer 2004 and Daby Balde in 2006, playing at many festivals including Glastonbury, Womad, Bath International and Marlborough Jazz Festival. Seyni is now based in London, and continues to play both world and popular music. Taara began as a group of friends playing music together and over time became one of most renowned bands in Senegal gigging and touring extensively through Senegal, Gambia, and on the Djola boat from Dakar to Casamance. They gained wide recognition and have been given the BSDA award from the Department for Culture. The musicians of Taara include Seyni’s father Bello Diop, who in his prime played with musicians from Orchestra Baobab and Orchestra Nationale, and taught Seyni and many young Senegalese musicians to play and love music. The lead vocalist, Mansour, was a talibe - a young child who would go about the city asking people to donate money, food or clothes for their marabout who taught them the Koran. It was then that he started to sing of his life and experiences. Other vocalists in the band include Jules Diop, bringing rap to Taara’s sound, and Guinean N’deye Sompare who has recently recorded with Guineas renowned Seikou Bembaya, brings her female touch and Guinean flavour to Taara. These voices make up the varied and distinctive sound of Taara. Khadim Mbaye, percussion, has joined the band on the latest album and has played and toured in West Africa and Europe with artists such as Pape and Cheikh. The group have just recorded a new album “Lebonne Lippon” in Dakar and London with guest musicians from Europe and are planning a European tour. The music is best described as afro-acoustic and is inspired by the traditional music of Senegal known as Taara.