Yacouba Moumouni

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Yacouba Moumouni (2014)

Yacouba Moumouni (* 1966 in Téra ; also known under its stage name Think-think ) is a Nigerien singer and flute . With his interpretation of traditional music from Niger, he is one of the most famous musicians in his country. Moumouni is the band leader of the group Mamar Kassey .

Career

Yacouba Moumouni belongs to the Fulbe ethnic group . He spent his childhood in the country, where he worked as a shepherd. At the age of ten, shortly after his father's death, he ran away to the capital Niamey , where he lived as a street child for two years . There he met the singer Absatou Danté in 1979, who took him into her household as a boy and promoted his musical talent. With her, Moumouni got to know the musical traditions of Niger and the subtleties of Nigerian flute playing over the next seven years. Absatou Danté was the sister of Danté Alhassane, the director of the Ballet National du Niger, into which Moumouni was accepted as a flute virtouse. In parallel to an apprenticeship as a mechanic, he studied with the flautist Harouna Marounfa.

Yacouba Moumouni on the flute (2014)

After playing in Harouna Marounfa's band for some time, Yacouba Moumouni was accepted into the group Zongo in 1986, which was dedicated to traditional music. With Zongo he toured North and West Africa and as far as Korea. In 1990 he joined the Orchester Takeda, the house orchestra of the Center de Formation et de Promotion Musicale (CFPM) in Niamey. There he had his first public appearance as a singer in 1992. He was with the Orchester Takeda for five years. In 1995 Moumouni founded his own band Mamar Kassey together with other CFPM musicians. With the release of Mamar Kassey's debut album Denké-Denké in 1999, Yacouba Moumouni became known overnight in Niger. Since then, Denké-Denké has also been a stage name Moumouni. With the growing success of Mamar Kassey, he became an important ambassador of Nigerien music abroad.

Moumoni's music - he also appears as the composer of his songs - is a typical Nigerien blend of rhythms and instruments of the Songhai - Zarma and Fulbe. His singing voice is described as soft and powerful at the same time. He sings in the languages Fulfulde and Songhai-Zarma . As a flautist he can also be heard on the albums of other artists such as Ali Farka Touré (2006) and Peter Yarrow (2010). With Mamar Kassey he also plays the instrument Kamele Ngoni .

Private

Yacouba Moumouni is married and has nine children.

Web links

Commons : Yacouba Moumouni  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Mamar Kassey - Nouvelle Création. (PDF) Innacor, 2013, p. 5 , accessed on October 10, 2015 (French).
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Craig Harris: Moumouni Yacouba - Biography & History. In: Allmusic . Retrieved October 10, 2015 .
  3. ↑ a b c d Abdourahmane Idrissa, Samuel Decalo: Historical Dictionary of Niger . 4th edition. Scarecrow, Plymouth 2012, ISBN 978-0-8108-6094-0 , pp. 328 .
  4. ↑ a b c d e f M. S. Abandé Moctar: Yacouba Moumouni alias Denké Denké: Digne ambassadeur de la musique nigérienne à travers le monde. In: Niger Diaspora. February 6, 2014, archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; Retrieved October 10, 2015 (French).
  5. ^ Moumouni Yacouba - Credits. In: Allmusic . Retrieved October 10, 2015 .
personal data
SURNAME Moumouni, Yacouba
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Denké-Denké (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Nigerien singer and flautist
DATE OF BIRTH 1966
PLACE OF BIRTH Téra