Frank Bessem's Musiques d'Afrique: Abdou Guité Seck

Frank Bessem's
Musiques d'Afrique:

Abdou Guité Seck
(Senegal)

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Abdou Guite Seck started singing as a boy at various occasions, such as school bands, cultural activities in his neighbourhood where he lived. When he was 13 years old, he already received a price of Golden Voice in his home town Saint Louis, in the North West of Senegal. He sung with the Regional Orchestra, later with the National Orchestra. He met some French and Senegalese music friends in Saint Louis, which was the starting point of the formation of Wock, a French-Senegalese band created in 1996, gaining international recognition rapidly with their mix of rock and mbalax, hence their name (Wock being a contraction of wolof-rock). Abdou became the lead singer of Wock. He met with various international stars such as Paco Seri, Phil Collins, Richard Bona, Paolo Fresu, Youssou Ndour and Austrian jazzman Joe Zawinul, with whom he worked together on the Saint Louis Jazz Festival in 1997. In 1998, he was invited to sing on one song « Bimoya », on Zawinul's album « World Tour ».

After their selection for the RFI Prix Decouverte Awards in 2000, an international album « Kemaan » was released, and in 2001, another French music award (Victoire de la musique) was granted for Best World Music Album of the Year. In 2002, his contract with Wock ended, and Abdou decided to start a solo career. In the same year, he created his own band and recorded a first album, « Evolution ». In 2003, a second album « Coono Aduna » (the tribulations of life) followed. The two albums were put together on one CD the next year.

With « Coono Aduna », Abdou Guité Seck gained the respect of both public and critics in Senegal and he counts among the main artists of the country. The CD release brought along international attention for him as a solo artist, and in October 2004 he was awarded during the Djembe d'or ceremony in Guinée-Conakry. In the following year, he was selected to represent his country at the Jeux de la Francophonie 2005 (Francophone Sports Games) in Niamey (Niger). Later in 2005, he toured in France and Italy, playing in front of a public of thousands of people, mainly of African origin.

His 2005 studio album, « Dëkaale » (neighbourhood) aims at a more international public. This is also true for his latest album, « Dou Leebi Neen ». where he invited Guinean star Fodé Baro, Cabo-Senegalese singer Philip Monteiro and Senegalese diva Khar Mbaye Madiaga as guests. His music, although based on mbalax, is less a mean up-tempo mbalax as many of his colleagues produce nowadays, but gives more attention to the lyrics and to mixing various musical styles. Yet, more attention from non-Senegalese public is still lacking, unfortunately.

Sources used:
Abdou Guité Seck's homepage
Lydia's Musikseite

Born: 18 June 1979 in Saint Louis, Senegal
Style: mbalax, afro-fusion

Discography:

Title	Year	Label	Remarks
Dou Leebi Neen	2008	AGS Music
Eté Show	2006	AGS Music	Live CD
Dëkaale	2005	Africa Productions 05108-2	CD
Coono Evolution	2004	Africa Productions 04096-2	CD
Coono Aduna	2003	AGS Music	Cassette production
Evolution	2002	Studio 2000	Cassette production
Albums by the group Wock:
Téranga			Cassette production
Kemaan	2000	BMG 743-2179142-2	CD