Family by Aba Diop & the Yermande Family
At first glance, master sabar percussionist Aba Diop may seem like a “new arrival” on the global stage, suddenly appearing alongside luminaries like John Medeski and Yussef Dayes. But to call Aba new is to overlook a lifetime of tradition and mastery. Born into an unbroken griot lineage in Dakar, Senegal, Aba carries centuries of sacred musical knowledge in his hands.
Aba Diop & the Yermande Family’s sophomore album Family affirms sabar as rhythmic language—not background, but source, with something urgent to say. “Yermande” means compassion and care for community, values that flow through the music as medicine for our times.
The album is alive with tradition and improvisation, pulsing with sabar, kora, tama, guitar, and vocals that carry ancestral memory. Aba is joined by kora master Noumoucounda, tama virtuoso Samba Ndokh, bassist Thierno Sarr, guitarist Jason Hosier, and keyboardist John Medeski, who brings the sound into another orbit. Griot diva Zeyna Ngom Diop and Aba’s son Ahmed lend their voices to this intergenerational, international effort.
“Musically and spiritually, there is nothing like it,” says Medeski. As Aba gains attention in the U.S., his music shifts how African percussion is understood. Family is more than an album, it’s a bridge between worlds.
