AFRO FUSION
Coumba N' Doffene Diouf
He prefers to retreat to a cosy spot with his djembe, strumming, observing and trying things out.
The fact that N' Doffene's French is influenced by his mother tongue Wolof is more than clear to hear. He tends to be a quiet person with a soft voice.
The man with african string instruments
With one foot firmly planted in the past and the other resolutely ready to evolve in today's world, N´Doffene is the artist of a generation that has witnessed the breaking down of cultural barriers.
N´Doffene has a unique and highly personal approach to guitar playing.
He tunes his instrument to the pentatonic scale and plays on open strings as he would on a xalam, a traditional Senegalese stringed instrument.
N´ Doffene is also one of the rare African musicians to play the guitar, xalam and kora. Unlike the griots, his singing is reserved and intimate, with variations in rhythm and melody. Senegal has a rich and diverse musical tradition, which varies greatly according to region and local culture.
N´ Doffene brings together different genres from the different ethnic groups that make up senegal and the world in general, creating a new approach to African music that reflects his open-mindedness and interest in all types of music. N´ Doffene has collaborated with all Senegalese alternative music artists, most recently on pianist Ismael Cisse's album African Classics, released in February 2013.
In November 2012, after a rigorous selection process, N´Doffene was chosen to accompany the duo Wolfgang Seligo (piano) and Peter Strutzenberger (double bass).
And in 2013 he began a new collaboration with ZANI, a hugely talented American singer, for a fusion album
MELOKAAN PROJET 2024
XALAM
A traditional Wolof guitar, the xalam consists of a small calabash over which a goatskin or cowhide is stretched and four strings. The bolon is a lower-pitched version of the xalam.
In Casamance, there is the three-stringed ekonting. There are other stringed instruments such as the riiti, a one-string violin with a body made of cheese wood and skin. The riiti is used in Fulani and Serer ceremonies.
AFRO FUSION
Fusions of various regional and inter-continental musical cultures
Incorporates traditional African music, alternative music as well as Afropop, blending various genres in an experimental crossover-like style
Afrofusion songs often include vocals in a range of African languages like Wolof alongside other languages such as French, English and Spanish.
Wolof is spoken by more than 10 million people and about 40 percent (approximately 5 million people) of Senegal's population speak Wolof as their native language. Increased mobility, and especially the growth of the capital Dakar, created the need for a common language: today, an additional 40 percent of the population speak Wolof as a second or acquired language. In the whole region from Dakar to Saint-Louis, and also west and southwest of Kaolack, Wolof is spoken by the vast majority of people. Typically when various ethnic groups in Senegal come together in cities and towns, they speak Wolof. It is therefore spoken in almost every regional and departmental capital in Senegal. Nevertheless, the official language of Senegal is French.
In The Gambia, although about 20–25 percent of the population speak Wolof as a first language, it has a disproportionate influence because of its prevalence in Banjul, the Gambian capital, where 75 percent of the population use it as a first language. Furthermore, in Serekunda, The Gambia's largest town, although only a tiny minority are ethnic Wolofs, approximately 70 percent of the population speaks or understands Wolof.