Mamar Kassey is a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

- pop-

ethnic An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

band from

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesAskia Muhammad I Askia Muhammad I (b. 1443 – d. 1538), born Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr al-Turi or Muhammad Ture, was the first ruler of the Askia dynasty of the Songhai Empire, reigning from 1493 to 1528. He is also known as Askia the Great, and his name in modern ...

, a legendary warrior who extended the

Songhai Empire The Songhai Empire (also transliterated as Songhay) was a state that dominated the western Sahel/Sudan in the 15th and 16th century. At its peak, it was one of the largest states in African history. The state is known by its historiographical ...

into the

Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

Mamar Kassey - Festival du Bout du Monde 2014 - 020

Style

The band's leader is singer and

flautist The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

Yacouba Moumouni Yacouba Moumouni is a Nigerien singer and flautist. As the leader of the jazz-ethnic An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other grou ...

. The group combines traditional

Hausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states * Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse See also * ...

, Djerma,

Fula Fula may refer to: *Fula people (or Fulani, Fulɓe) *Fula language (or Pulaar, Fulfulde, Fulani) **The Fula variety known as the Pulaar language **The Fula variety known as the Pular language **The Fula variety known as Maasina Fulfulde *Al-Fula ...

and Songhai rhythms, instruments such as the molo (a lute with a skin-covered body), and modern instruments such as the electric bass. Their sound also incorporates western jazz, Moroccan and

Latin music Latin music (Portuguese language, Portuguese and es, música latina) is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from Ibero-America (including Music of Spain, Spain and Portuguese music, Portugal) ...

Musical career

An eight-piece group formed by Moumouni and guitarist Abdallah Alhassane in 1995, Mamar Kassey have released two albums internationally and toured Europe and the United States multiple times. They came to attention in France after an appearance at the Festival des Nuits Atypiques in Langon in 1998. They are one of the few Nigerien musical acts known internationally, and much beloved in their home country.

Makida Palabre

In 2004–2005, musicians from Mamar Kassey toured with a group of

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

folk musicians under the name Makida Palabre. The collaboration included Breton musicians Pierre-Yves Prothais, Ronan Le Gourierec, Laurent Carré, and Youen Paranthoen playing Breton/Celtic, western jazz, and West African instruments.

Musicians

The members of the band have changed over the course of the group's existence. The group that performed at the ''Festival des nomades'' in

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

in 2000 included: *Abdoulaye ALASSANE, (ABDALLAH): guitar. *Adamou DAOUDA, (NAGOULI): kalangou. *Boubacar Souleyman MAIGA, (BARI): percussion,

calabash Calabash (; ''Lagenaria siceraria''), also known as bottle gourd, white-flowered gourd, long melon, birdhouse gourd, New Guinea bean, Tasmania bean, and opo squash, is a vine grown for its fruit. It can be either harvested young to be consumed ...

. *Harouna ABDOU : electric bass guitar. *Housseïni Namata CHIBAKOU: ''molo'' lute. *Yacouba MOUMOUNI: flute, vocals.

Discography

*''Denké-Denké'', Daqui, Harmonia Mundi, (1999) *''Alatoumi'', Daqui (2000), Harmonia Mundi (2001), World Village WV470003 (2001) *''Via Campesina'', Daqui, Harmonia Mundi (2006) *''On va voir ça'', Daqui, Harmonia Mundi (forthcoming, 2008) *''Niger'', Innacor Records, (2013)

References

collection of reviews and interviews
for Mondomix program, at TV5Monde. Includes extensiv

Interview by Pierre René-Worms, 2006

Radio France International Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the state-owned international radio broadcaster of France. With 37.2 million listeners in 2014, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world, along with D ...

. At the ''Ferveur Gnaoua'' Festival in

Mogador Essaouira ( ; ar, الصويرة, aṣ-Ṣawīra; shi, ⵜⴰⵚⵚⵓⵔⵜ, Taṣṣort, formerly ''Amegdul''), known until the 1960s as Mogador, is a port city in the western Morocco, Moroccan region of Marrakesh-Safi, Marakesh-Safi, on the ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

.
BBC: Mamar Kassey Alatoumi
Reviewed by Peter Marsh. 20 November 2002.
Afropop Worldwide: Mamar Kassey, Alatoumi
Reviewed by Banning Eyre, 2001.

Dan Maley, Macon Telegraph (Georgia, USA),2004-09-03, Page 3.
Video and biography
at TV5Monde.

External links

Performance at the Alliance Franco-Marocaine d'El Jadida
Morocco (2007).
Radio programs and performance photos, 2006
at

. {{Authority control Nigerien musical groups