On July 19 at 2:00 PM, we hope everyone can join us for an interesting afternoon of music featuring Abdou Mboup.  Abdou Mboup was born in the small town of Kebemer, Senegal to a family of oral historians and musicians.  Having studied traditional drumming under the tutelage of his family, Abdou soon became a key figure in the development of the Mbalax style (Senegalese dance music).  In fact in the early 1970s, he was the first musician to incorporate various traditional instruments into Senegalese popular music.  A few years later, he joined the renewned Dakar based group Xalam and toured Europe and Africa under the patronage of south African trumpeter, Hugh Masekela.  By the 1980s, Abdou was living and working in Paris.  There he attracted the attention of the American trumpeter Jon Hassell, with whom he recorded and performed at the 1982 Womad festival in London, England.  Soon therafter, he became the percussionist of Eddy Louiss’s band with whom he toured and recorded for the next ten years. Concurrently, Abdou taught percussion at Loisirs et Culture music school in France and founded the jazz fusion band Sixun.  In the years to come, Abdou’s career has only expanded.  He has toured and recorded in Africa, Europe, America, Southeastern Asia, Japan, Nepal and India. From the 1990s until now, Abdou has written original composition for Jean Luc Ponty, Pharoah Sanders Tom Tom Club, Randy Weston.

Please join us for this special event, free of charge and open to everyone.  Please note that in the event of rain or inclement weather, we will be featuring music in our lower level Assembly Room.  While you’re in the neighborhood, please take some time to also visit the Kearny Farmer’s Market, located on the Garfield Avenue side of the building, between Kearny Avenue and Chestnut Street.  The Market will kick off on June 22 and run every Thursday afternoon throughout the Summer from 12 NOON until 6 PM.