 afel bocoum (born 1955) is a musician from mali, noted as a singer and guitarist. he began his career as a member of ali farka tourÃ©'s group asco, and toure is often regarded as his mentor. both men come from the town of niafunke on the river niger, and are members of the sonrai people. bocoum is an agricultural advisor by profession. ==musical style== his group, alkibar (the name means 'messenger of the great river' in sonrai) consists of two acoustic guitars, a njarka (a one-string fiddle), a njurkle (a kind of lute), calabash and djembe percussion, and two female singers as well as male singers in the choruses. bocoum is the lead vocalist. bocoum uses music as a medium of communication, commenting on contemporary malian society, e.g., "if you betray one woman, you betray all women" (yarabitala), "we live in a crazy world with no respect; tomorrow weâll be judged by our children" (salamm aleikum), "parents, do not force your daughters to marry; a home will never flourish without true love" (mali woymoyo). most of his singing is done in sonrai, his native language, but also in tamasheq (the language of the tuareg) and in fulfulde (the language of the fula people). bocoum's father was a musician and was noted locally for his ability to play the njarka and njurkel, which he employed to play music at weddings. bocoum used to accompany his father to the weddings and there learnt the songs of the se galarare style of music. he retained his preference for acoustic over electric guitar, and the use of traditional instruments. as well as the malian musicians he grew up with, bocoum cites jorge ben jor, mamadou doumbia, salif keita, john lee hooker, and mongo santamarÃ­a as his musical influences. ==career history== in 1968, at the age of thirteen, he joined the group of guitarist ali farka tourÃ© and singer harber maiga as an apprentice. it was maiga who taught bocoum to sing and to write songs until his death on 23 march 1983. bocoum's first solo performance came in 1968 at a musical competition in mopti. he was well received by the public. in 1972 he performed in front of 3000 people at mali's second biennale in bamako, which was held every two years from 1970 to 1990, when musa traore was overthrown. the bambara people were dominant in malian affairs at that time and because of his sonrai ethnicity, bocoum was only awarded second prize. he left the niafunke group in 1975 when he won a scholarship to an agricultural college in m'pessoba, near koutiala in the southeast of the country. after three years of study he began working in djennÃ©, before retur
1955_births Living_people Malian_musicians World_Circuit_(record_label)_artists