Afel Bocoum
Encyclopedia
Afel Bocoum is a musician from Mali
, noted as a singer and guitarist. He began his career as a member of Ali Farka Toure
's group ASCO
, and Toure is often regarded as his mentor. Both men come from the town of Niafunke
on the River Niger, and are members of the Sonrai people. Bocoum is an agricultural advisor by profession.
) consists of two acoustic guitar
s, a njarka
(a one-string fiddle
), a njurkle (a kind of lute
), calabash
and djembe
percussion
, and two female singers as well as male singers in the choruses. Bocoum is the lead vocalist. Bocoum uses music as a medium of communication, commenting on contemporary Malian society, e.g., "if you betray one woman, you betray all women" (Yarabitala), "we live in a crazy world with no respect; tomorrow we’ll be judged by our children" (Salamm aleikum
), "parents, do not force your daughters to marry; a home will never flourish without true love" (Mali woymoyo).
Most of his singing is done in Sonrai, his native language, but also in Tamasheq
(the language of the Tuareg) and in Fulfulde
(the language of the Fula people). Bocoum's father was a musician and was noted locally for his ability to play the njarka and njurkel, which he employed to play music at weddings. Bocoum used to accompany his father to the weddings and there learnt the songs of the se galarare style of music. He retained his preference for acoustic over electric guitar
, and the use of traditional instruments. As well as the Malian musicians he grew up with, Bocoum cites Jorge Benjor, Mamadou Doumbia
, Salif Keita
, John Lee Hooker
, and Mongo Santamaría
as his musical influences.
. He was well received by the public. In 1972 he performed in front of 3000 people at Mali's second Biennale in Bamako
, which was held every two years from 1970 to 1990, when Musa Traore was overthrown. The Bambara people were dominant in Malian affairs at that time and because of his Sonrai ethnicity, Bocoum was only awarded second prize.
He left the Niafunke group in 1975 when he won a scholarship to an agricultural college in M'Pessoba
, near Koutiala in the southeast of the country. After three years of study he began working in Djenné
, before returning to his home town, and the group, in 1980. In 1982 he was invited to join the Orchestre Diaba Regional from Timbuktu
. In the early 1980s he formed Alkibar, and influenced by his knowledge of agriculture, used their music to communicate with people about water and irrigation
.
His debut album, Alikibar, was recorded in an abandoned school near Niafunke over the course of six days - the same session and location where the Ali Farka Toure's Niafunke was recorded. In fact, Ali Farka and Bocoum appeared on each other's albums. Bocoum and Ali Farka's record producer believed that transporting the group to a recording studio overseas would diminish the quality of the music.
In 2002 Bocoum collaborated with the Blur
singer Damon Albarn
on the successful Mali Music
album, and the two played together in concerts in London and Denmark.
In 2006, Afel Bocoum and his band, Alkibar, released their second full-length album Niger on the Belgian label Contre-Jour
. The sounds of Niger rely heavily on the traditional instruments njarka
and njurkel, which give this collection of new materials a more traditional, and distinctively different quality from their excellent Western debut, Alkibar. Niger opens with a heartfelt and stirring tribute to his late mentor, Ali Farka Toure
.
As of 2011, Afel is touring as part of the second iteration of Acoustic Africa.
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
, noted as a singer and guitarist. He began his career as a member of Ali Farka Toure
Ali Farka Touré
Ali Ibrahim “Farka” Touré was a Malian singer and guitarist, and one of the African continent’s most internationally renowned musicians. His music is widely regarded as representing a point of intersection of traditional Malian music and its North American cousin, the blues...
's group ASCO
Ascó
Ascó is a large village in the comarca of Ribera d'Ebre, Catalonia, Spain, on the right bank of the Ebre river. The village of Ascó is known for its nuclear power station, and for excellent fishing in the river....
, and Toure is often regarded as his mentor. Both men come from the town of Niafunke
Niafunke
Niafunke might refer to either:*Niafunké, a Cercle in Mali**Niafunké, a town in Mali*Niafunké, and album by Ali Farka Touré...
on the River Niger, and are members of the Sonrai people. Bocoum is an agricultural advisor by profession.
Musical style
His group, Alkibar (the name means 'messenger of the great river' in SonraiSonghay languages
The Songhay, Songhai, or Songai languages are a group of closely related languages/dialects centered on the middle stretches of the Niger River in the west African states of Mali, Niger, Benin, Burkina Faso, and Nigeria. They have been widely used as a lingua franca in that region ever since the...
) consists of two acoustic guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s, a njarka
Njarka
The njarka is a small fiddle made from a gourd, with one gut string, which is native to Mali. Probably the most notable njarka player was Ali Farka Touré....
(a one-string fiddle
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
), a njurkle (a kind of lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
), calabash
Calabash (percussion)
In African music, the calabash is a percussion instrument, of the family of idiophones, consisting of a dried half calabash, of large size, that is struck with the palms, fingers, wrist or objects to produce a variety of percussive sounds. This instrument is used in traditional...
and djembe
Djembe
A djembe also known as jembe, jenbe, djbobimbe, jymbe, yembe, or jimbay, or sanbanyi in Susu; is a skin-covered drum meant played with bare hands....
percussion
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, and two female singers as well as male singers in the choruses. Bocoum is the lead vocalist. Bocoum uses music as a medium of communication, commenting on contemporary Malian society, e.g., "if you betray one woman, you betray all women" (Yarabitala), "we live in a crazy world with no respect; tomorrow we’ll be judged by our children" (Salamm aleikum
As-Salamu Alaykum
As-Salāmu `Alaykum is a traditional Muslim greeting, often translated as Peace be upon you.-Usage:*In Arabia, the greeting is associated with shaking right hands and then possibly two or three light cheek to cheek kisses....
), "parents, do not force your daughters to marry; a home will never flourish without true love" (Mali woymoyo).
Most of his singing is done in Sonrai, his native language, but also in Tamasheq
Tuareg languages
Tuareg is a Berber language or family of very closely related languages and dialects spoken by the Tuareg Berbers, in large parts of Mali, Niger, Algeria, Libya and Burkina Faso, with a few speakers, the Kinnin, in Chad.- Description :Other Berber languages and Tamashaq are quite mutually...
(the language of the Tuareg) and in Fulfulde
Fula language
The Fula or Fulani language is a language of West Africa. It is spoken as a first language by the and related groups from Senegambia and Guinea to Cameroon and Sudan...
(the language of the Fula people). Bocoum's father was a musician and was noted locally for his ability to play the njarka and njurkel, which he employed to play music at weddings. Bocoum used to accompany his father to the weddings and there learnt the songs of the se galarare style of music. He retained his preference for acoustic over electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, and the use of traditional instruments. As well as the Malian musicians he grew up with, Bocoum cites Jorge Benjor, Mamadou Doumbia
Mamadou Doumbia
Mamadou Doumbia is a football player from Côte d'Ivoire. Currently plays defender for Le Mans Football Club and Côte d'Ivoire.- Career :...
, Salif Keita
Salif Keita
Salif Keïta is an internationally recognized afro-pop singer-songwriter from Mali. He is unique not only because of his reputation as the Golden Voice of Africa, but because he has albinism and is a direct descendant of the founder of the Mali Empire, Sundiata Keita...
, John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.Hooker began his life as the son of a sharecropper, William Hooker, and rose to prominence performing his own unique style of what was originally closest to Delta blues. He developed a 'talking blues' style that was his trademark...
, and Mongo Santamaría
Mongo Santamaría
Ramón "Mongo" Santamaría Rodríguez was an Afro-Cuban Latin jazz percussionist. He is most famous for being the composer of the jazz standard "Afro Blue," recorded by John Coltrane among others. In 1950 he moved to New York where he played with Perez Prado, Tito Puente, Cal Tjader, Fania All...
as his musical influences.
Career history
In 1968, at the age of thirteen, he joined the group of guitarist Ali Farka Toure and singer Harber Maiga as an apprentice. It was Maiga who taught Bocoum to sing and to write songs until his death on 23 March 1983. Bocoum's first solo performance came in 1968 at a musical competition in MoptiMopti
Mopti is a city at the confluence of the Niger and the Bani in Mali, between Timbuktu and Ségou. The city lies on three islands linked by dykes: the New Town, the Old Town and Medina Coura. As a result it is sometimes known as the "Venice of Mali".-History:The city of Mopti derives its name from...
. He was well received by the public. In 1972 he performed in front of 3000 people at Mali's second Biennale in Bamako
Bamako
Bamako is the capital of Mali and its largest city with a population of 1.8 million . Currently, it is estimated to be the fastest growing city in Africa and sixth fastest in the world...
, which was held every two years from 1970 to 1990, when Musa Traore was overthrown. The Bambara people were dominant in Malian affairs at that time and because of his Sonrai ethnicity, Bocoum was only awarded second prize.
He left the Niafunke group in 1975 when he won a scholarship to an agricultural college in M'Pessoba
M'Pessoba
M'Pessoba is a small town and commune in the Cercle of Koutiala in the Sikasso Region of southern Mali. As of 1998 the commune had a population of 19,873.-References:...
, near Koutiala in the southeast of the country. After three years of study he began working in Djenné
Djenné
Djenné is an Urban Commune and town in the Inland Niger Delta region of central Mali. In the 2009 census the commune had a population of 32,944. Administratively it is part of the Mopti Region....
, before returning to his home town, and the group, in 1980. In 1982 he was invited to join the Orchestre Diaba Regional from Timbuktu
Timbuktu
Timbuktu , formerly also spelled Timbuctoo, is a town in the West African nation of Mali situated north of the River Niger on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert. The town is the capital of the Timbuktu Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali...
. In the early 1980s he formed Alkibar, and influenced by his knowledge of agriculture, used their music to communicate with people about water and irrigation
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
.
His debut album, Alikibar, was recorded in an abandoned school near Niafunke over the course of six days - the same session and location where the Ali Farka Toure's Niafunke was recorded. In fact, Ali Farka and Bocoum appeared on each other's albums. Bocoum and Ali Farka's record producer believed that transporting the group to a recording studio overseas would diminish the quality of the music.
In 2002 Bocoum collaborated with the Blur
Blur (band)
Blur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...
singer Damon Albarn
Damon Albarn
Damon Albarn is an English singer-songwriter and record producer who has been involved in many high profile projects, coming to prominence as the frontman and primary songwriter of Britpop band Blur...
on the successful Mali Music
Mali Music
Mali Music is a 2002 album by musician Damon Albarn in collaboration with Malian musicians Afel Bocoum, Toumani Diabaté & Friends, and also featuring a cameo from Ko Kan Ko Sata.- Track listing :# Spoons# Bamako City# Le Relax...
album, and the two played together in concerts in London and Denmark.
In 2006, Afel Bocoum and his band, Alkibar, released their second full-length album Niger on the Belgian label Contre-Jour
Contre-jour
Contre-jour, French for 'against daylight', refers to photographs taken when the camera is pointing directly toward a source of light. An alternative term is backlighting....
. The sounds of Niger rely heavily on the traditional instruments njarka
Njarka
The njarka is a small fiddle made from a gourd, with one gut string, which is native to Mali. Probably the most notable njarka player was Ali Farka Touré....
and njurkel, which give this collection of new materials a more traditional, and distinctively different quality from their excellent Western debut, Alkibar. Niger opens with a heartfelt and stirring tribute to his late mentor, Ali Farka Toure
Ali Farka Touré
Ali Ibrahim “Farka” Touré was a Malian singer and guitarist, and one of the African continent’s most internationally renowned musicians. His music is widely regarded as representing a point of intersection of traditional Malian music and its North American cousin, the blues...
.
As of 2011, Afel is touring as part of the second iteration of Acoustic Africa.
Partial discography
- Alkibar, 1999
- Mali Music, 2002 (with other artists)
- Featured on SavaneSavane (album)Savane is the final solo album by Malian musician Ali Farka Touré. It is the third and final part of the Hôtel Mandé Sessions, featuring Touré and Toumani Diabaté, recorded by World Circuit head Nick Gold...
by Ali Farka TouréAli Farka TouréAli Ibrahim “Farka” Touré was a Malian singer and guitarist, and one of the African continent’s most internationally renowned musicians. His music is widely regarded as representing a point of intersection of traditional Malian music and its North American cousin, the blues...
, 2006 - Niger, 2006, Contre Jour
- Tabital Pulaaku, 2009, Contre Jour