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Oumou Sangare      

Grammy Award-Winning Malian Wassoulou Musician, Sometimes Referred to as "The Songbird of Wassoulou"

Oumou Sangaré is a Grammy Award-winning Malian Wassoulou musician, sometimes referred to as "The Songbird of Wassoulou." Wassoulou is a historic region south of the Niger River, where the music descends from age old traditional and cultural songs, which is accompanied by a calabash.

As a child, Oumou Sangaré sang in order to help her mother feed their family as her father had abandoned them. At the age of five, she was well known for her talents as a gifted singer. After making it to the finals of a contest for the nursery schools of Bamako, she performed in front of a crowd of 6,000 at the Omnisport Stadium. At 16, she went on tour with the percussion group Djoliba.

Sangaré recorded her first album, "Moussoulou" ("Women"), with Amadou Ba Guindo, a renowned maestro of Malian music. The album was very successful in Africa, with more than 200,000 copies sold. With the help of Ali Farka Touré, Sangaré signed with the English label World Circuit. At the age of 21, she was already a star.

Oumou is considered an ambassador of Wassoulou; her music has been inspired by the music and traditional dances of the region. She writes and composes her songs, which often include social criticism, especially concerning women's low status in society.

Since 1990, she has performed at some of the most important venues in the world: the Melbourne Opera, Roskilde festival, festival d'Essaouira, Opéra de la monnaie of Brussels.

Many of Sangaré's songs concern love and marriage, especially freedom of choice in marriage.

In 1995, she toured with Baaba Maal, Femi Kuti and Boukman Eksperyans. Other albums include "Ko Sira" (1993), "Worotan" (1996), and a 2-CD compilation "Oumou" (2004), all released on World Circuit Records. Sangaré supports the cause of women throughout the world. She was named an ambassador of the FAO in 2003 and won the UNESCO Prize in 2001 and was made a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters of France in 1998.

Sangaré is featured prominently in "Throw Down Your Heart," a 2008 documentary about world-renowned American banjo player Béla Fleck, and his exploration of the relatively unknown relationship between his instrument and the musical traditions in Africa.

Sangaré contributed vocals to "Imagine" for the 2010 Herbie Hancock album "The Imagine Project," along with Seal, P!nk, India.Arie, Jeff Beck, Konono Nº1 and others.

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The Mix: The Mali 100 Presented By Afropop Worldwide : NPR
Malian singing legend Oumou Sangare performing in Essaouira, Morocco in June 2012. i i. hide captionMalian singing legend Oumou Sangare performing in  ...

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