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Abdou Mboup
By the 1980s, Abdou was living and working in Paris. There he attracted the attention of the American trumpeter Jon Hassell, with whom he recorded and performed at the 1982 Womad festival in London, England. Soon after, he became the percussionist of Eddy Louiss's band with whom he toured and recorded for the next ten years. Concurrently, Abdou taught percussion at Loisirs et Culture music school in France and founded the jazz fusion band Sixun. In the years to come, Abdou's career has expanded. He has toured and recorded in Africa, Europe, America, Southeastern Asia, Japan, Nepal and India. From the 1990s until now, Abdou has written original composition for Jean Luc Ponty, Pharoah Sanders Tom Tom Club and Randy Weston. As a player, he has collaborated with Manu Dibango, Michel Petrucciani, Richard Galliano, Michel Portal, Claude Nougaro, Didier Malherbe, Johnny Clegg, Bill Laswell, Nina Simone, Toots Thielemans, John Lurie, Africa Bambata, Chico Freeman, Craig Harris, David Murray, Joe Zawinul Syndicate, Bob Stewart, Joe Chambers, Buster Williams, Wycliffe Gordon, Harry Belafonte, George Cables, Ron Carter, Steve Turre, Jon Faddis, Billy Higgins,Tom Tom Club, Ronny Jordan, Carla Cook, Kenny Barron, Jason Moran, Regina Carter. Abdou Mboup currently teaches at the New School University, NYC, and lives in Union City, NJ. He is the leader of his own band WAAKAW, meaning "country boys" in his native language, Wolof. For more information on Abdou, please visit: www.abdoumboup.com < Back to the Toca Artists Main Menu
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Abdou Mboup was born in the small town of Kebemer, Senegal, to a family of oral historians and musicians. Having studied traditional drumming under the tutelage of his family, Abdou soon became a key figure in the development of the Mbalax style (Senegalese dance music). In fact in the early 1970s, he was the first musician to incorporate various traditional instruments into Senegalese popular music. A few years later, he joined the renewned Dakar based group Xalam, which he toured Europe and Africa under the patronage of south African trumpeter, Hugh Masekela.