Congratulations Mamadou Diop: Winner of 2011 Boston Music Award

Listen to Mamadou Diop and MAMADOU  

Yet another year has come to a close and yet  another installment of the Boston Music Awards is complete. This special ceremony, now in its 24th year, honors one of the most coveted local recognitions among New England’s very top musicians and members of the music trade industry. Nominees and winners are determined by a hand selected academy of over 150 local music aficionados along with the voting general public. So, the International Artist of the Year Award goes to “drum roll” … Mamadou Diop, a world fusion artist well-known for his incredible African drumming technique  and rhythm guitar artistry, for which he has developed a reputation as one of the best in the world. A professional performer for over 30 years, Diop is the epitome of multiculturalism, having been named “Humanitarian of the Year” by the Art of Living Foundation and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He firmly believes that all aspects of ones daily existence should be centered around a variety of world cultures rather than any single one, no matter what one’s original ethnic origin may be, as each and every one brings its own special value to the over-all quality of life. Undoubtedly, this philosophy ultimately translates into the trademark style of Diop and his band MAMADOU. 

MAMADOU’s over-all sound is most heavily characterized by driving Senegalese and other African rhythmic motifs accented melodically by the electric guitar. Added to this basic musical foundation are elements of a number of other diverse styles including high-life, juju, rumba, samba, salsa, and reggae. Aside from leading the band, Diop, originally from Senegal, is also responsible for the group’s original compositions. What he has managed to bring us with the creation of MAMADOU is an extraordinarily popular diversified world fusion ensemble with universal crowd appeal that memorizes audiences with its highly potent rhythms just begging one and all to move their feet and clap their hands in exhilaration.

 

 

There were five bands nominated in the international category this year. The other four nominees were Zili Misik (past winner), Debo Band (past winner), Dub Apocalypse (past winner), and Bloco AfroBrazil (past nominee). There were also other world music artists who actually won awards in additional categories including: The Dropkick Murphys (Best Artist of the Year & Best Live Artist of the Year), David Wax Museum (Song of the Year), Esperanza Spalding  (Jazz Artist of the Year). Way to go world music artists! Keep the music alive.  By the way, it’s also a pretty good bet that you will find some other  names of interest in this regard amongst the nominees, if you care to take a peek.

              

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