Baba Commandant and Mandingo Band - Millennium Stage (May 26, 2023)

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Live Tonight on Millennium Stage: Baba Commandant and the Mandingo Band are a contemporary group from Burkina Faso. Coming from Bobo-Dioulasso, the group is steeped in the Mandingue musical traditions of their ancestral legacy. The enigmatic lead singer Baba Commandant (Mamadou Sanou) is an original and eccentric character who is well respected in the Burkinabé musical community. A sort of punk Faso Dan Fani activist for traditional Mandingo music, Baba continues to redefine the boundaries between traditional and modern. In 1981, he joined the Koule Dafourou troupe as a dancer. Later, he embarked on his current musical direction as a singer first in Dounia and then in the Afromandingo Band.
His current band-when he’s not playing with the now-famous Burkinabé musician Victor Démé-is the Mandingo Band. At present, he is a practitioner of the Afrobeat style, drawing inspiration from the golden era of Nigerian music. Fela Kuti/Africa 70 and King Sunny Adé are big influences, as is the legendary Malian growler Moussa Doumbia.
Baba Commandant plays the ngoni, the instrument of the Donso (the traditional hunters in this region of Burkina Faso and Mali). His audience comprises multiple generations and strata of Burkinabé society; he accordingly adapts his repertoire to his surroundings, which range from cabaret Sundays in Bobo-Dioulasso to the sound systems of Ouagadougou.
Baba Commandant and the Mandingo Band are a formidable force steeped in Ouagadougou’s DIY underground musical culture. Juguya is their sound.

[@simoneghilardi9608]

May his soul rest in eternal peace! Such a great musician and warm person! Saw him live in concert in Ouagadougou in October 2022

[@susansilverstream3811]

I saw them last night...so Good! 🌟✨❤️🌹❤️✨🌟

[@maskedman1337]

Wow, one of their last shows ever then. I just discovered this amazing band after hearing of Baba's death 😞

[@albertangeloro5832]

to be featured Saturday, 5/26/23 between 2-6 pm on Radio Soleil Little Haiti Brooklyn NY

[@danamaguire4285]

Excited to go to their concert in Providence on June 1!!!

[@bissiriousmane2494]

❤🎉

[@bissiriousmane2494]

❤😊

[@simoneghilardi9608]

@thekennedyCenter: Where did you copy this text from??? "His current band - when he’s not playing with the now-famous Burkinabé musician Victor Démé -is the Mandingo Band." Victor Démé passed away in 2015, just when his career took flight. It's a tragedy for the Burkinabè music scene that the same happened now to Madou who deceased yesterday November 25th 2023

[@Narikeljinjira]

Moussa Doumbia that first track, it sounds very familiar. Excellent stuff.

[@ListenHereOldMan]

RIP

[@ST-xg3gy]

These cats were just at the Hunter Gatherer.

[@ltcolumbo9708]

Rather listen to these then cRAP

[@zackelyons3761]

Two things 1. You go ahead 2. And you let me know! P.s. such an interesting take on such a difficult subject. Very brave of you!!

[@shaspearman8647]

Ayyyeee. Why did you bring rap into this? Is it because this and rap are both black creations? I don’t understand, it has nothing to do with this

[@albenmurcia4716]

No one is forcing you to listen to rap or any genre. Listen to whatever you want and dont hate on stuff that you dont listen to

[@ST-xg3gy]

These?

[@urrrccckostan]

RIP😢