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

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