Of Senegalese diplomatic ancestry, Elage Mbaye came to Canada with his family in early 1986, away from percussions, then met two of his younger brother’s friends, the Diouf brothers, Karim and with status. A descendant of a great family of griots, music, song, dance and percussions are all part of his life. Writer-composer-performer Elage was eight years old when he started playing his country’s traditional percussion instruments called “sabaars” but was always impressed and fascinated by the “tama” (talking drum). For a long period (1980 to 1999), he stayed Elage, members of the group Les Colocs and founders of the group Fakhass Sico in 1999, in Montreal. A year later, Elage made his first appearance on the Quebec scene at Montreal’s Festival international Nuits d’Afrique, in Parc Safari, and later collaborated with the group Ballet Taafe Fanga, at the Cabaret de Montréal and in several other events.
In 2002, he met Mighty Popo, joined his group and remains a member to this day. Together, they participate in numerous concerts and festivals across the country. Elage also took part in the recording of the group’s fourth album (Muhazu), which won the Best World Artist – Group award at the 2007 Canadian Folk Music Awards. Elage is also a member of the group Jokko and the Mo Sayk jazz band. The griot continues to take part in a number of humanitarian activities, such as the The Rwanda 10th Anniversary Memorial Project (Montreal, Quebec) and the National Anti-Racism Council of Canada (Ottawa, Ontario). He also takes part in other special events at the Canadian Museum of Civilization (Children’s Museum) in Hull, fundraisers for AMREF Canada (Toronto, Ontario), UNESCO Canada’s campaign against slavery (Ottawa, Ontario), CBC Radio 2 (Songwriter) in collaboration with Jim Bryson, Lucie Idlout and Sarah Hallman, and several others. On February 6, 2010, writer-composer-performer Elage Mbaye shared with us the legacy of his maternal grandmother Coumba Fall Léonie Diop, the inspiration of his voice in his first solo album, titled Askane. “Askane” in Wolof means “family tree”. On this album, Elage worked in collaboration with close friends Kofi Ackah and Abdou Sy, composers. Elage mixes the traditional music of his homeland Senegal with modern music, for a sensational result inspired by his African roots. WWW.elage.ca myspace.com/elagembaye email [email protected], 613-866-7024.