By : Bakary Ceesay
Weuz and Samara, an original and committed group of Senegalese musicians from Yeumbeul, in the suburbs of Dakar.
The group is formed in February 2014 and evolves in the creative atmosphere of a city where mixes a population resulting from both the strong urbanization of Dakar and the rural exodus.
Weuz and samara enter the Senegalese music industry thanks to its style imbued with original sounds and anchored in the rhythms of West Africa.
The group is composed of six musicians of which Papa Ousseynou Ndiaye, is lead vocal, singer, author and compositer.
Born in Dakar, Pape OusseynouNdiaye is an author, compositer, arranger. He was lead in several animation groups for ceremony until 2005. Then he decided to go to research the different rhythms of Casamance (south of Sénégal). The stay spent in Casamance thus becomes the bedrock of the flight of his musical career. Back in Dakar, he created with the help of some friends, the group: Weuz and samara
Elimane Diagne, group leader author, composer, keyboardist and guitarist
Born in Gandon (Saint Louis Sénégal), Elimane Diagne is a guitarist, keyboardist, compositer, chorist, and arranger. Passionate about music, he started in 2002 to play in major hotels in Senegal until 2004 where he joined the group Super Kouroko Omar Bodian, former lead vocal group Fogny. In 2012, he was keyboardist of Paulette Diémé, the great diva of cabo love until 2014, when he joined the band Weuz and el Samara
Ibrahima Sory Bobo Ba, backing vocalist, arranger with calabash and drums. Born in Dakar, Ibrahima Ba is a drummer, percussionist, calabist, chorist, and arranger. He made his debut in the art world in 1996 with the ballet of African integration at the School of Arts in Dakar.
He began to prove himself on the Senegalese music scene in 2001 as a drummer. In 2008, he joined DialiKoundade group DjibyDrame. In 2014, he joined the group Weuz and Samara.
Mamadou Lamine Diamé is arranger, bassist, backing vocalist. In 1986, he took his first steps in a traditional ballet. From 1990, he began to prove himself in music groups such as: the group manding, the group of Moussa Ngom, the group of Abu Djuba, the group of Fatou Laobé et the group Integration. In 2014, he joined the group Weuz and Samara.
Mamadou Lamine Maïga, kora, percussionist, chorist and arranger. Mamadou Lamine Maiga comes from a griotte family in which the musical instrument of choice is kora, a musical instrument that is both mythical and mystical.
Mamadou Lamine Maiga is a Korist, chorister, and arranger. His mother AdamaCissokho and his uncles such as Mayer, Sadio and Solo Cissokho are the pride of Senegal on the international level. However Mamadou Lamine Maiga is also percussionist, he ensures the percussion part of his uncles on the national scene as to say that in the art, there are no barriers.
Mamadou Gueye, percussionist and arranger. Modou Gueye is serer from a griotte family. He is the son of Mbaye Gueye, and grandson of Thialam Séne, the great drum major and companion of Doudou Ndiaye Rose in the 1960s. Impregnated in this art, Modou Gueye joined in 1997 the company Fambony then the group of Dieuwrou Cissokho little son of Soundioulou Cissokho. In 2001, he joined the ballet of African integration. In 2003, he joined the music group Integration until 2014, when he joined the group Weuz and Samara
SCENES PERFORMANCES
The Weuz group and the Samara regularly offer cultural and artistic performances in Dakar as well as in certain regions of Senegal, such as the big international “Koom-Koom” festival in Ziguinchor:
In this context, the group offers a concert at the French cultural center in the presence of the Ambassador in 2015.
He participated in the international kora festival at the center of the French Alliance Ziguinchor in 2016. The group is then named ambassador of women victims of rape and violence in Casamance. With its status of defender of women, the group gives a support concert for the network of women living in rural areas and a concert in the big theater as part of Women’s Day
ALBUM-In November 2017, the group weuz and samara is hosted in France for intercultural exchanges at the cultural center music without border of Montpellier and realizes its first album. The group has released a single called “Wolou” (confidence) since August 2018 and continues today to meet the cultures of Senegal, always in search of new sounds.