‘King Jimi’ Mbaye: Music Genius Behind Super Étoile de Dakar

Around 1997, I watched a video of a concert marking the 15th anniversary of the founding of the Senegalese band, Super Étoile de Dakar. I asked myself a simple question: how come Senegal is a ‘developing’ country, but Super Étoile which has been called the best live band in the world is a world class band?

I thought that the answer to that question could be found in the leadership qualities of Youssou Ndour, the band leader, and thus assigned myself the task of identifying signs and manifestations of Youssou Ndour’s leadership qualities in the video of that concert. Much later, circa 2003, I wrote an article on my findings about Youssou Ndour’s leadership qualities based on my analysis of that video.

There is certainly no doubt that Youssou Ndour, in addition to his God-given musical talent, has superb leadership skills. This is amply demonstrated by his phenomenal success both as an artist and as a shrewd businessman who co-founded and led Super Étoile for over 40 years now. In addition, he built a media empire from his music: first the band, then the production company SAPROM, the Xippi recording studio, the Jololi label which grew into the Prince Arts label as well as music and TV production company, and GFM, the multimedia conglomerate that spans radio, TV and the print media.

If Super Étoile, the foundation of Youssou Ndour’s success can be seen as a three-legged stool with one leg being Youssou, the other two legs would be the Habib Faye and Mamadou “Jimi” Mbaye (rhymes with “bye”), co-founder with Youssou Ndour and others, of Super Étoile. Sadly, both Habib and Jimi have passed away, Habib in April 2015, and Jimi just over a month ago on February 12, 2025, at the age of 67. 

Habib Faye was a phenomenal bassist, keyboardist, arranger, composer, guitar soloist, and Grammy Award-nominated producer from a musical family in Dakar, Senegal. He collaborated with and played alongside musicians from around the world, including Angelique Kidjo, Mickey Hart (formerly of the Grateful Dead), Joe Zawinul, Gilberto Gil (of Brazil), Chet Atkins, Mark Knopfler (formerly of Dire Straits), as well as Peter Gabriel, Sting, and Bruce Springsteen.

The other, and longest standing leg of the Super Étoile stool was Mamadou Mbaye. Mamadou was born in Dakar on October 2, 1957 in a griot family to a polygamous father who was a religious Muslim leader. He took up the guitar at a very early age and grew up with the budding music scene of Senegal in the 1970s. As a leading member of Super Étoile, he was also at the frontline of their wildly successful effort to bring traditional Mbalax music into mainstream Senegalese pop music.

Mamadou grew up imbibing the music of Wolof griots and instrumentalists such as Elhadj Samba Diabaré Samb, Amadou Ndiaye Samb, and Sakou Dieng, all legendary and players of the xalam (called ngoni in Mali and other parts of West Africa), the 4-string Wolof musical instrument. Mamadou excelled at his craft and soon became famous for his dexterity playing the guitar, hence his nickname “Jimi” after the late Jimi Hendrix arguably the greatest guitarist that ever lived.

Jimi was not only a great guitarist because of his command of the instrument. He was a great guitarist because, as he said, his music was inspired by, and firmly anchored in the Wolof and Manding musical instruments, the xalam and kora, respectively. As such, to hear Jimi’s music is to hear the sound of someone who had, musically, suckled the xalam. Although Jimi’s Fender Stratocaster guitar is inanimate and American made, in his hands, it spoke perfect Wolof.

Jimi’s solos are strewn all over Super Étoile’s music, and almost every song they ever made has his indelible mark. Although some of his solos (for example, in Ndiadiane Ndiaye (from the eponymous 1982 album) and Birima (from the 1996 album, Lii!) are based on the melodies of Wolof classics, Jimi also created his own melodies. This is evident in his solos in, for example, Kocc Barma (from the 1989 album, The Lion (Gainde), and Live Television (from the 1992 album, Eyes Open). Many of these songs have been performed in concerts with more energy and verve as shown in Ndakarou, Birima, Live TV, Thioul Anta, and Pitche Mi (to name a few), and this video collage of his works.

Youssou Ndour said it all when he said that "No one, no one plays guitar like Jimi Mbaye” and that “his playing style is unique". In the same vein, Carlos Santana one of the greatest guitarists in the world, acknowledged Jimi’s stellar musicianship when he said that “Jimi is a very special and incredible guitarist” when the two met in Los Angeles during a tour. He certainly was a King in the pantheon of guitar soloists of the world.

Although Jimi spent much of his musical career with Super Étoile, he also had many significant side projects, including releasing three albums, having his own recording studio and label, Studio Dogo and Studio Dogo Productions, respectively, as well as his own Group Dogo band. Jimi also produced and recorded many young Senegalese musicians and collaborated with musicians such as Peter Gabriel and Steve Reid.

Jimi was also a pillar of Senegalese music because he was the composer and/or arranger of many songs by Super Étoile, and many other Senegalese musicians and bands. Jimi has 94 credits on the Discogs.com website, ranging from instruments and performance (74 credits) to engineering, mixing, production, and writing and arrangement. The man was an all-rounder!

Beyond his music, Jimi was a decent human being: a loving family man, a devout Muslim, an inspiration and mentor to many Senegalese musicians, a humble man, and one who helped multitudes of people – and very discreetly. At his funeral, Youssou Ndour paid tribute to him by celebrating his talent and underlining his devotion to his family.

According to a friend who often travelled with Super Étoile, Jimi always asked them if they had packed a prayer mat in their luggage. In addition, many Senegalese musicians testified how Jimi took them under his wings and toured the country with them. Jimi also made his recording studio available to many budding musicians and accepted any amount that was paid to him.

His two brothers who spoke at his funeral emphasized the huge role Jimi played in the family, as a pillar that supported them all in whatever way he could, and without being boastful about it. I last met Jimi in The Gambia in 2009 following a Super Étoile concert, and his humility and geniality came right across.

Youssou Ndour, Super Étoile, Senegal, The Gambia, Africa, and indeed the whole world have lost a giant musical genius and a wonderful human being in the passing of Jimi Mbaye. Fortunately, he leaves behind an important legacy and a huge library of his works which will continue to inspire and entertain people for generations to come. Jimi’s passing is also especially devastating to Youssou Ndour not only because, as he said, he lost a great musician, but also because he lost a friend, and a great confidante. Even more sadly, Youssou Ndour lost his father, El Hadj Elimane Ndour who passed away on February 19, 2025, exactly a week after Jimi’s passing.

Let me take this opportunity to express my sincere condolences to the family of Jimi, Youssou Ndour, Super Étoile, and all Jimi’s fans around the world on his passing, and Youssou Ndour and his family on the passing of his father. May Allah SWT grant both of them eternal Jannah! Ameen!!

Katim Seringe Touray, Ph.D., (https://kstouray.medium.com/) is a Gambian soil scientist, international development consultant and writer on development issues, science, technology, and global affairs, and hosted an African music show on Community Radio WORT FM in Madison, WI, USA, for about six years from 1993.