Jimi Mbaye

Mamadou "Jimi" Mbaye (2 October 1957 – 12 February 2025)[1] was a Senegalese guitarist best known for his work with Youssou N'dour.

[2] Mbaye developed a unique Senegalese guitar style in which he made his Fender Stratocaster sound like local instruments such as the kora or xalam.

Mbaye succeeded in transposing the African traditional sounds of khalam (Ngoni) and kora onto his electric Fender Stratocaster.

Early on he met Youssou N'Dour and together they became rising stars on Senegal's club scene, playing mbalax music.

Mbaye was back at N'Dour's side and very much an integral part of Youssou's "Super Etoile" band.

A member of Youssou N'Dour's Super Etoile Band since 1979, Mbaye is one of Senegal's most influential guitarists.

Often compared to Jimi Hendrix and Robert Johnson, Mbaye has forged a unique blend of traditional Senegalese roots music and American pop and R&B.

Recording a solo album, Dakar Heart, with help from Super Etoile Band musicians in 1997, Mbaye showcased his inventive, kora-derived guitar playing and singing in Wolof, English, and French.

As a youngster, he performed on a self-invented instrument made from discarded garbage cans and nylon fishing line in the streets of Dakar.

We remember the album Daxaar with the late jazz drummer Steve Reid recorded in Mbaye’s studio Dogo in Dakar.

Mbaye quit Super Etoile de Dakar to work on his own solo career and started to tour with his "Group Dogo", all around the world.