The shepherd of the arts has broken the cords forever; the icon of modern traditional Fulani music, with a background of jazz, Bah Mody has just passed away following an illness.
His fans mourn the author of “Jontaado yida yeweende” in “Rokku mi rokka” by Super Etoile, in 2007; a hit performed as a duet with the talented Youssou Ndour with the signing of half of the titles by Bah Mody, the nomad. Born in Senegal and having grown up in Mauritania, the artist returned home following the events of 1989 between Senegal and Mauritania, after exile in Burkina Faso and Niger.
Alas, it is so.
What gives meaning to life gives meaning to death. The reaper again…
.! » Death is not the worst thing in life. The worst is what dies in us when we live. said Albert Einstein.
Mamadou Abou alias Bah Mody passed away this Sunday, May 19, 2024 in his native Kadione and buried in Thille Boubacar in Podor. The Fulani bluesman left as he had lived: simple, modest, sober, humble and full of moral and social qualities beyond measure.
»To die fighting is death destroying death; to die trembling is to slavishly pay the price of your life to death,” isn’t it, Shakespeare!
Committed artist, author – composer, Bah Mody, under the background of music sometimes nostalgic sometimes humorous, was a pan-Africanist imbued with his Fulani culture. His songs with honeyed melodies, his high quality texts and his suave nightingale voice pierced the mystery to transcend the invisible of human existence to lodge in a perpetual questioning of the morals, values and principles of life that were dear to him .
From the education of young children to adult life skills, including themes of sociability, human greatness, surpassing oneself, love and especially friendship, Bah Mody cast a wide net as a multi-dimensional artist.
While plucking the strings of his guitar, his feet played the balafon and the handling of his voice reflected his exceptional talent: who would not try to look for where a goat would be hidden if he imitated the cry of this animal through the interpretation of one of his favorite songs: “cuddungel Saidou Diallo”?
The cultural integration of peoples and the joking cousinship between the different facets of cultures was a priesthood for the child of Kadione. Inspired by Fulani and Moorish music, Mamadou Abou was the cultural model of integration between the two northern and southern banks of the Senegal River, creating an original range of simplicity and refinement through the tracks of the shepherds that he traveled. In 2012, the music lover broke down during a concert at La Cigale in Paris; which opened the way for him with the psychadelic soukouss with which he produced his album: “Sambuu”.
He had a vision in his art: promoting peace, social stability and arousing virtue in humans were the purpose of Mamadou Abou Ba’s artistic commitment.
Affable, generous, approachable, courteous, he distinguished himself by his special relationship with money; he just needed something to live and support his family. Greed, gluttony and love of material things did not haunt Bah Mody’s sleep.
With a poetic style rarely equaled, he made everyone laugh, by cultivating a happiness that everyone is supposed to be able to obtain even in poverty.
The artist had a gift from the lord; he lived a pious life and was a scholar of the Koran, the first verse of which: “Fatiha” or “the opening” was translated by him into Pulaar.
During our numerous discussions, he campaigned for the complete translation of the Quran into local languages. According to him, it is in this way that we could cultivate faith and reason. Because by understanding the verses that we recite during prayer, we better strengthen our faith in God.
The grief we feel when we lose a loved one is the price we pay for having them in our lives.
Belel kelle, my village that you visited every year, in the middle of winter; when the herd of cows returned from the pasture will not soon forget you…and around the concessions where we liked to go to meet the sunset falling towards the horizon…all this physical and immaterial decor sees you again in your generous and generous smile natural.
Your friends from the Diaspora; the France that you loved to visit, your friends Professor ASAB and Idy Bah Sarr, your French managers and your orchestra in France… are still watching your silhouette. Certainly your body is buried in the holy land of Thille Boubacar in front of an immense crowd who came to accompany you to your final resting place, but your shadow and your spirit overlook this night from Sunday to Monday the paradisiacal gardens of the celestial kingdom whose inhabitants under the direction of the seal of the prophets will give you a welcome worthy of your magnificent reason for having lived on earth.
Farewell ! Bah Mody sleeps eternally in peace,
Doro Sidy Ba, will never forget you.
