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Vieux Diop, whose real name is Alioune,
takes the heart of West African music into new territory,
making it modern without losing its ancient sight. Vieux
owes his musical heritage not only to his mother, who
was always singing the melodies and rhythms of Senegal,
their West African homeland, but to his love of American
music. “John Lee Hooker was my guy, and James Brown,
Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett.”
His first instrument, at age 11, was
a set of trap drums, which he played on Senegalese singer
Youssou N’Dour’s first hit recording in the 1970s. He
played with N’Dour’s band Jamono in Dakar and toured
with him in Gambia.
Vieux studied music in Dakar (the capital of Senegal)
as well as attending university, steeping himself in
the folklore and traditional instruments of his native
country. Vieux plays kora (a ‘bass’ kora), the jembe
and samba drums, and other indigenous instruments. Along
with his understanding of
intricate musical patterns, Vieux has a talent for creating
and singing beautiful and poetic lyrics.
His goal, he says, is to “spread African music in general
and Senegalese music in particular for love and enjoyment.
Music helps us understand one another better and accept
each other as human beings.”
When Diop, arrived in New York
in 1983, he discovered that "African music and
culture was really not known. I remember that if you
went out in African clothes, people would look at you
and wonder why you were wearing pajamas."
Like many immigrants, Vieux Diop moved
to America to "experience new things. I wanted
to come over, see the U.S., and try my luck."
Meeting some other Senegalese, he began
playing his kora with them, and made ends meet by teaching
language classes. Although music was his focus, it took
11 years before he issued his first album, the Caribbean-flavored
Deeso, followed in 1995 by Vieux Diop (Vieux
Jo).
These days, Diop, makes a living from
his instrument. He's worked as an outreach artist through
the famous Juilliard School of Music, introducing thousands
of kids in New York City public schools to African music,
and he still performs regularly in high schools and
colleges around the country, as well as at Disney World
in Florida.
His own music, however, reflects almost 20 years of
living in a cultural blender, rather than anything traditionally
Senegalese. Guests like Celtic fiddler Eileen Ivers
add their own flavor to the stew.
"Since I've lived in the U.S. for so long, I wanted
to do something different," he explained. "My
music has people from many different backgrounds, all
putting their sound in, and it becomes one. But when
you listen to it, there's still that African thing under
it all; you can feel it. But it's for everybody to enjoy.
This is a melting pot, everybody has something to offer."
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