Fatou Sarr Thialane | Seereer Heritage

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Adji Fatou Sarr Thialane

Biography

Adji Fatou Sarr Thialane at Seereer Heritage's artist audition in Kaolack

(27 August 2022)

Adji Fatou Sarr Thialane (née. Fatou Sarr), more commonly known as Adji Fat Sarr Thialane, is a Seereer-Niominka artist from the village of Thialane in Senegal. She is a renowned gamba player and one of Senegal's finest gamba musicians. She is the founder of the gamba group Yaalyo Goorwa. The gamba is a traditional Seereer music instrument played by women (usually older women) - which is made out of a big calabash with a small hollow-out. The gamba is usually considered sacred, and it is one of the key instruments played when a Seereer elder, especially someone of high standing passes over, and during marriage and a female's rite of passage.

Although she started singing since childhood - learning from her father Saikou Sarr, she became a professional artist just over twenty years ago (as of 2022) when she started playing the gamba and singing Seereer folk music professionally. To solidify herself as an artist, she took up a music course with the Douta Seck Cultural Centre (French: Maison de la Culture Douta Seck) and achieved a diploma. Her vocal range can be described as contralto. Her father was a renowned fanal singer who worked in the Gambia and Senegal. The fanal tradition of the Gambia is a small scale ship made out of bamboo, hard wood, beautifully and intricately designed paper lace, and illuminated by beautiful lights. The ceremonial procession of the fanal takes place during the Christmas festive season, accompanied by drumming, singing, and dancing. Sarr started as a njom (or laamb) singer and dancer, working in Gambia and Senegal. A njom singer is an artist who sings during Seereer wrestling tournaments (njom). Sarr inherited her artistic talent from her father. Like her relative and fellow "Thialanese" Fatou Diambal Thior, Sarr has strong connections to the Gambia, with several relatives from that country.

Sarr is a devout Muslim who made the hajj to Mecca, and the first song she ever composed (professionally) was dedicated to the Islamic prophet Muhammed, and titled Njul angansaer ak genmbideff. One of her best known tracks is Yaalyo Goorwa, composed twenty years ago, which will become the name of her group Yaalyo Goorwa (meaning let's console the men). She is the mother of the dancer and Seereer Heritage's Dance Alumnii member Sadio Diop. Some of Sarr's children are professionals artists in their own right.

Sarr's latest work as of December 2022 is on Seereer Heritage's single Ceereer ne ino mbogun released on 15 December 2022 which is the precursor to the upcoming album Ino mbogu Seereer ne (to be released in 2023). On this single, Sarr appears as one of the featured artists following Seereer Heritage's artist auditions held in Kaolack on 27 August 2022. Despite her long career in traditional live music, this is Sarr's first major single and album, a very common problem for Seereer artists especially amongst older and traditional artists. The great Yandé Codou Sene who has been singing and dancing since childhood, and the inspiration for several notable artists, release her first album at age 65.