Yandé Codou Sène

Although she didn't record her first album until she reached the age of 65, Yande Codou Sene has had a profound effect on modern Senegalese music. A major influence on Youssou N'Dour, her talents have continued to be heralded by N'Dour. She made her recording debut on an album, Gainde -- Voices from the Heart of Africa, that she shared with N'Dour in 1995. The same year, her emotional vocalizing was showcased on the full-length album Youssou N'Dour Presente Yande Codou Sene. While RootsWorld claimed that she "can move mountains with her positively poetic voice," www.freehosting.net/djembemande said, "her voice is a technically marvelous instrument with great sustain and rich overtones and she uses it to convey fervent emotion rather than facile sentimentality." Born in Sine Saloum in central Senegal and raised in the Serer traditions, Sene has continued to set her vocals to the traditional sounds of sabar, tama, balafon, kora, riti (violin), and xalam and the polyphonic harmonizing of a female choir. Sene has appeared in two films -- Karmen and writer/director Ousmane Sembene's Faat Kine.
© Craig Harris /TiVo