Baaba Maal
b. 12 November 1960, Fouata, Senegal. After winning a scholarship to the Ecole Des Beaux Arts in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, vocalist and guitarist Maal travelled widely throughout Senegal and neighbouring Mali and Mauritania, studying the traditional musics of the area. He spent a further two years of academic study at the Paris Conservatoire, learning European theory and composition, before returning to Dakar in the early '80s. In 1982 he released the first of six cassette-only albums that would, by mid-decade, establish him as a potential rival to Youssou N'Dour, the reigning king of Senegalese youth music. In 1985, he formed the band Dande Lenol (‘voice of the race’) and signed to the Paris-based label Syllart, releasing three superb albums: WANGO, NOUVELLE GENERATION and TAARA. In 1991 he signed to London-based Mango Records.