Masters of the Sabar

Wolof Griot Percussionists of Senegal

Patricia Tang

• Publisher: Temple University Press
• Year: 2008
• ISBN:
  9781592134212
• Topic: Medien & darstellende Kunst
• Subtopic: Musik

Masters of the Sabar is the first book to examine the music and culture of Wolof griot percussionists, masters of the vibrant sabar drumming tradition. Based on extensive field research in Senegal, this book is a biographical study of several generations of percussionists in a Wolof griot ( géwël ) family, exploring and documenting their learning processes, repertories, and performance contexts—from life-cycle ceremonies to sporting events and political meetings. Patricia Tang examines the rich history and changing repertories of sabar drumming, including dance rhythms and bàkks, musical phrases derived from spoken words. She notes the recent shift towards creating new bàkks which are rhythmically more complex and highlight the virtuosity and musical skill of the percussionist. She also considers the burgeoning popular music genre called mbalax. The compact disc that accompanies the book includes examples of the standard sabar repertory, as well as bàkks composed and performed by Lamine Touré and his family drum troupe.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Illustrations and Musical Transcriptions
• Contents of Accompanying Audio Compact Disc
• Guide to Pronunciation and Orthography
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1 You Will Be Griot in Another Way: The Ethnomusicologist’s Story
• 2 There Once Was a King Called Maysa Waaly Jon: Sabar History, Instruments, Ensemble, and Sound
• 3 The Griot Lineage—We Are One: Wolof Caste and Identity
• 4 My Foreparents Used to Beat the Drums: Wolof Family, Kinship, and Musical Genealogy
• 5 If a Snake Bites You, You Will Think of Death: Sabar Repertories
• 6 Dancing Fish and Rice: Performance Contexts
• 7 The Pax You Play Is So Sweet: The Role of Sabar in Mbalax
• Conclusion
• Notes
• Glossary of Terms
• References
• Discography
• Interviews
• Index
• About the Author