Meet Baboucar
Baboucar Diedhiou, son of local legend Bacary Ole is a master bougarabou player from Abéné, Senegal. Baboucar carries the ancestral knowledge of his lineage while sharing the bougarabou’s remarkable ability to connect with any genre of music.
Offerings
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Classes
Baboucar offers personalised classes for beginners to professional musicians looking to develop new skills. Choose between one-on-one sessions or group classes, and learn at your own pace. Classes are available online or in person, guided by Baboucar’s warm, patient, and generous teaching approach.
Some Happy Students
Collaborations
Baboucar’s music thrives in collaboration. Rooted in the rich traditions of Bougarabou yet open to exploration, his work bridges cultures, styles, and sounds.
Below are examples of Baboucar collaborating with a diverse range of musicians. If you’re interested in experimenting, creating, and connecting through rhythm, get in touch.
“Something often missing in the Western understanding of drums is melody. We usually think of a drum set as sound-very often as noise - rather than as a source of musical expression.”
Tribute to Barcary Ole
Baboucar Diedhiou’s musical path is deeply shaped by his father, Bacary Ole, a revered drummer and cultural figure in Casamance. Bacary Ole was not only a master musician, but a guardian of tradition, community values, and ancestral knowledge. His playing embodied discipline, generosity, and spiritual connection to rhythm.
This work stands as a tribute to Bacary Ole’s legacy. Through Baboucar’s teaching, performances, and collaborations, the rhythms of his father continue to live, travel, and inspire new generations — honoring the past while shaping the future.
More Than Music
Bougarabou is not a performance alone — it is a ritual of gratitude, connection, and love. Each drum carries life within it. Made from the trunk of a tree and the hide of an animal, the bougarabou is born from two living beings which represent the cry of the forest in Cassamance.
Rooted in the living traditions of Casamance, specifically in Diola culture, the bougarabou is more than a drum — it is a language, a history, and a bridge between cultures. Originating from southern Senegal, this powerful hand-drumming tradition has long accompanied ceremonies, storytelling, healing, and community gatherings.
The drums are gently warmed around an open fire, not rushed or forced. Heating the skins is both practical and ceremonial — awakening the drum, bringing it into balance with the environment, and inviting its voice to open.
“Bougarabou classes with Baboucar are so much better than any expectation can be. I would recommend it 100%.”
Joshua Weis, Germany
