Interview: Lamine Toure, griot & sabar drummer

[e2c]

Here: http://www.afropop.org/multi/interview/ ... Tour%C3%A9

He talks about women in his family - his grandmother, even! - playing sabar. (Among other things...)

[bubudi]

thanks for this great interview, e2c!

[e2c]

De nada, bubudi! It's pretty rare for Afropop.org to interview a drummer, and I was very happy to see this posted... did you catch the part about Lamine T's grandma making small drums for him and for his brothers and sisters, when they were just little kids?

I wish I could meet the whole family, though unfortunately, his grandma is no longer with us.

[bubudi]

did you catch the part about Lamine T's grandma making small drums for him and for his brothers and sisters, when they were just little kids?

of course! that bit really stood out for me. and when you put that in context of what senegalese society can be like with regards to such a challenge to the traditional gender roles, she was very lucky to have been accepted as a sabar player and carver. must have been an exceptional personality!

[e2c]

did you catch the part about Lamine T's grandma making small drums for him and for his brothers and sisters, when they were just little kids?

of course! that bit really stood out for me. and when you put that in context of what senegalese society can be like with regards to such a challenge to the traditional gender roles, she was very lucky to have been accepted as a sabar player and carver. must have been an exceptional personality!

I'd imagine that that's true of his great-grandmother as well! (Sounds like their husbands must've been pretty cool guys, too... )