Mbatt Sarr, Chants du Sine Saloum

I first started collecting African cassettes in 1993, in Dakar, Senegal.  It started the day after I arrived in the city with a couple of Youssou N'Dour cassettes, purchased from a street vendor on the Avenue Ponty.  A few years later I had mapped out the city's cassette vendors.  I regularly visited the stalls selling new releases in Sandaga, the used-cassette vendors in the market in front of the Port of Dakar, the distributors of Mouride cassettes at Marché Colobane, the store behind the Casino supermarket (and the Sahel nightclub) that had a great collection of Diola cassettes, and my friend Loulou at the Marché Fass.  I became most interested in non-studio recordings of traditional music.  I collected dubs of recordings made by the Radio Nationale and boombox recordings of private events.  I have shared several of these cassettes; favorite recordings of Wolof, Halpulaar, Balanta, and Diola music. 

This is my first post to feature Sérère music.  This is another cassette from the aforementioned Loulou.  Mbatt Sarr is a singer from the Sine-Saloum region.  Her strident delivery recalls Yandé Coudou Sène.  Her ensemble features a guitar player whose lines vaguely echo the  contrapuntal bass-and-melody style of Joseph Spence.  Mbatt Sarr has been performing for over three decades and today she is one of the doyennes of Sérère music.  

These songs don't sound like they were recorded in a studio or during a live event.  My guess is that these tracks were broadcast live on radio and then circulated on cassette.  

Download Mbatt Sarr - Chants Sereres du Sine

Enjoy!!