The Senegalese guitarist and singer Mansour Seck, who has died after a short illness, aged 69, recorded solo albums but was best known for the crucial role he played in the career of the African star Baaba Maal, his longtime friend. Unlike Maal, Seck was a griot, a hereditary musician responsible for keeping alive the music and stories of his people, and he transformed Baaba’s style by teaching him griot songs. Together they recorded Djam Leelii, the 1989 album that launched Maal’s career, and Seck later became a key member of Maal’s band, Daande Lenol, with whom he toured the world.
“I didn’t have the right to use the music of the griots,” said Maal, “but since me and Mansour were like twins or two brothers, the griots allowed me to touch some of this music, Yela music … Without Mansour I would never have been called the King of Yela. He opened the door for me and I opened the door for him to travel.”
