Yandé Codou Sène (also ''Yande Codou Sene'') was a
Senegalese
Demographic features of the population of Senegal include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
About 42% of Senegal's population i ...
singer from the
Serer ethnic group. She was born in 1932 at
Somb in the
Sine-Saloum
Sine-Saloum is a region in Senegal located north of the Gambia and south of the Petite Côte. It encompasses an area of 24,000 square kilometers, about 12% of Senegal, with a population in the 1990s of 1,060,000.
The western portion contains the ...
delta and died on July 15, 2010, at
Gandiaye in
Sénégal. She was the official
griot
A griot (; ; Manding languages, Manding: or (in N'Ko script, N'Ko: , or in French spelling); also spelt Djali; or / ; ) is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician. Griots are masters of communicatin ...
of president
Léopold Sédar Senghor
Léopold Sédar Senghor ( , , ; 9 October 1906 – 20 December 2001) was a Senegalese politician, cultural theorist and poet who served as the first president of Senegal from 1960 to 1980.
Ideologically an African socialist, Senghor was one ...
. Most of her music is in the
Serer language
Serer, often broken into differing regional dialects such as Serer-Sine and Serer-Saloum, is a language of the Senegambian branch of the Niger–Congo family spoken by 1.2 million people in Senegal and 30,000 in the Gambia as of 2009. It is the ...
.
Career
Yandé Codou sings in the old Serer tradition and have had a significant impact on
Senegambian music as well as artists including
Youssou N'Dour
Youssou N'Dour (, ; also known as Youssou Madjiguène Ndour; born 1 October 1959) is a Senegalese singer, songwriter, musician, composer, occasional actor, businessman, and politician. In 2004, ''Rolling Stone'' described him as, "perhaps the m ...
whom she has inspired immensely. Although she has been singing since she was a child and have had a profound effect on Senegambia's music scene, she did not record her first album (''Night Sky in Sine Saloum'') until she was aged 65. Her first recording debut on an album ''"Gainde"'' was in 1995 that she shared with Youssou N'Dour in which she received rave reviews. In that same year, her vocals were showcased on the full-length album ''Youssou N'Dour Presents Yandé Codou Sène''. RootsWorld described her as someone who:
:''"can move mountains with her positively poetic voice."''
In
Safi Faye's
Mossane (a 1996 film), Yandé's powerful vocals received rave reviews whose song in the film is associated with the evocation of the Serer
Pangool
Pangool (in Serer and Cangin) singular: Fangool (var : ''Pangol'' and ''Fangol''), are the ancient saints and ancestral spirits of the Serer people of Senegal, the Gambia and Mauritania. The Pangool play a crucial role in Serer religion and hist ...
(ancestral spirits and Serer
Saints
In Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Anglican, Oriental Orth ...
in the
Serer religion
The Serer religion or Serer spirituality (''Serer language, Serer:'' A ƭat Roog, meaning "the way of the Divine", "path of God", or "religious life"Kalis, Simone, ''Médecine traditionnelle, religion et divination chez les Seereer Siin du Sén� ...
).
President Senghor who is famous for adopting the African
griot
A griot (; ; Manding languages, Manding: or (in N'Ko script, N'Ko: , or in French spelling); also spelt Djali; or / ; ) is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician. Griots are masters of communicatin ...
technique of ''"naming"'' in his poems is adopted from the Serer tradition as in his poem ''"Aux tirailleurs Sénégalais morts pour la France."'' Yandé Codou who is proficient in this technique used a similar technique in the funeral of President Senghor.
[Mamadou Badiane. The changing face of Afro-Caribbean cultural identity: Negrismo and Négritude, p91. Rowman & Littlefield, 2010. ]
Albums
Gainde, Yandé Codou Sène and Youssou N'Dour, 1995
Yandé Codou Sène, Night Sky in Sine Saloum, 1997
Tracks
*Salmon Faye (sang in
a cappella
Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...
)
*Gainde
*Keur Maang Codou
*Bofia Tigue Waguene
*Salmon Faye
*Gnaikha Gniore Ndianesse
*Natangue
*Keur Mang Codou
Filmography
* Yandé Codou Sène, ''Diva Sérère'', documentary film by Laurence Gavron, 2008
* ''
Yandé Codou, la griotte de Senghor'', documentary film by Angèle Diabang Brener, 2008
*
Safi Faye's ''
Mossane'', 1996
*
Joseph Gaï Ramaka's ''
Karmen Geï'', 2001
*
Ousmane Sembene's ''
Faat Kine'', 2001
Notes
External links
All musicPortrait, Music. Télérama.frTelerama.frPortrait France24France24.comNew York Times review of MossanYandé Codou Sène, R.I.P.– Voice of America News
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sene, Yande Codou
Serer singers
Serer-language singers
Senegalese world music musicians
1932 births
2010 deaths
People from Fatick region