Homepage

Member of:

Alkibar

Language:

Sonrai Tamaschek Fula

Genre:

African blues

Instrument:

Guitar Male vocals

On the Internet
Music samples
Afel Bocoum talks

Biography

Afel Bocoum was born in 1955 in the village of Niafunke. His father was a well-known musician who often played at weddings and other festive occasions. As a child, Afel Bocoum was taught by his father and went along with him to these performances. This was Afel Bocoum’s musical universe until he reached the age of 13 and heard Ali Farka Toure and his vocalist, Harber Maiga. These two already established artists took the young Afel under their wings and taught him to compose his own songs in Sonrai. His breakthrough as an artist came in 1972 when he won second prize in a festival in Bamako, as a solo singer. Over the years since then he has performed with, among others, Ali Farka Toure. “In the Mali countryside,” says Bocoum “We don’t go to the cinema or read newspapers. Music is the most important source of information. So I feel a big responsibility to tell the truth when I perform.” Afel is a trained agronomist and actively uses his music to inform the farmers in the Niafunke area about irrigation and new methods of cultivation. He weaves together old and new knowledge, mythology and music.

Relevant artists:
Ali Farka Touré
Rokia Traoré
Ramata Diakite
Issa Bagayogo
Tinariwen

ALKIBAR  
World Circuit/1999

The guitarist in Ali Farka Toure’s band, ASCO, has released his own album. This was recorded at the same time as Toure’s “Niafunke”, within the walls of a rundown agricultural school in a village by the Niger River. “Alkibar” - also the name of Boucum’s group - means, “message from the great river” and this is how his music sounds. It moves slowly forward, gently rocking with repetitive, acoustic guitar riffs backing njarka (calabash-violin), calabash percussion and a two-woman choir. The music for natural reasons sounds much like Ali Farka Toure's, and Afel Boucum is heir to the elder Toure with these songs. A promising debut, the album has a lovely nerve and atmosphere, the only objection being that many of the 10 tracks sound rather alike.

Startpage    Artists, search    Articles and interviews    Links   

Design: Idar Lind
English: Katherine Stewart-Kreisman (katherine.scharansky@virginmedia.com)
Swahili: Francis Chagula (francis.chagula@malvik.kommune.no)
Swahili: Habiba Rajabu (habiba@online.no)
Flags: 3Dflags.com

This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit here.