Baba Commandant and the Mandingo Band was a contemporary world music group from Burkina Faso. Coming from the city of Bobo-Diulasso, the group was rooted in the Manding musical traditions of their ancestral legacy. The enigmatic lead singer, Baba Commandant (Mamadou Sanou) was an original and eccentric character who was well respected in Burkina Faso’s musical community.
An activist for traditional Manding music, Baba continued to redefine the boundaries between traditional and modern. In 1981, he joined the Koule Dafourou troupe as a dancer. Later, he developed his musical direction as a singer, first in Dounia and then in the Afromandingo Band.
Baba Commandant’s latest band — when he was not playing with the now-famous Burkinan musician Victor Démé — was the Mandingo Band. He performed Manding roots music in combination with the Afrobeat style, drawing inspiration from the golden era of Nigerian music. Indeed, Fela Kuti/Africa 70 and King Sunny Adé were big influences, as was the legendary Malian growler Moussa Doumbia.
Baba Commandant played the doso ngoni, the instrument of the Donso (the traditional hunters in this region of Burkina Faso and Mali). His audience comprised multiple generations and diverse members of Burkinan society; he accordingly adapted his repertoire to his surroundings, which ranged from cabaret Sundays in Bobo-Diulasso to the sound systems of Burkina Faso’s capital, Wagadugu.
In 2015, Baba Commandant and the Mandingo Band released the Afrobeat album Juguya (Sublime Frequencies), followed by Siri Ba Kele (2018).
On Siri Ba Kele, the band distilled a high energy mix of traditional and modern Burkinan funk with a reverent take on the iconic Manding guitar music of the 1970s. The band included virtuoso Issouf Diabate; Massibo Taragna on bass; and Mohamed Sana on drums.
Sonbonbela was the third LP from Baba Commandant and the Mandingo Band. Sonbonbela was recorded in the beginning of 2022, and the group continued to deliver their trademark fusion of Manding and Afrobeat styles.
As with previous releases, the band on Sonbonbela featured the legendary guitar pyrotechnics of Issouf Diabate, in reality one of the greatest West African guitarists of the last forty years; Wendeyida Ouedraogo on bass; Abbas Kabore on drums; and Nickie Dembele on percussion and balafon.
Baba Commandant died of malaria on November 26, 2023.
(headline image: Baba Commandant — Photo by Martin Demay)
Discography:
Juguya (Sublime Frequencies, 2015)
Sira Ba Kele (Sublime Frequencies, 2018)
Sonbonbela (Sublime Frequencies, 2022)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.