Tiliboo Afrobeat

Tiliboo Afrobeat is a Berlin-based band led by composer-vocalist-percussionist Omar Diop. Omar comes from a region in the south of Sénégal called Casamance, one of the heartlands of the west-african Mandinka culture heritage. As a child, Omar assimilated rhythms and songs from many of the different cultural groups living in this region, including Mandinka, Wolof, and Jola. By the time he was 15 years old he was already a professional choreographer for popular dance groups in the Casamance, but this was only the beginning of his musical journey. Omar came to Europe for the first time in the 1992 to teach percussion workshops, but quickly found work as a performer, playing with african and european jazz musicians on stages all over Europe. It was during this time that he conceived and developed his personal style of afrobeat music, mixing jazz and other international influences with the traditional rhythms and melodies from Casamance. Shortly after his arrival in Berlin in 1997, he founded Lion Express, the first version of the band that would become Tiliboo. The current lineup of Tiliboo Afrobeat began to take shape 2011, with the arrival of Moussa Coulibaly, a griot from Burkina Fasso whose primary instrument is the ballafon. With Omar’s congas and Moussa’s ballafon anchoring the folkloric aspects of the music, the addition of americans Conor McNally on keyboards, Nick Morrison on guitar, and of french saxophonist Felix Gibaud enabled the band to fully exploit the inherent afro-jazz potential of Omar’s music. Supported by the German bass player Charlie Birkenhauer and drummer Sebastian Maschat, the band moves effortlessly from afro-cuban salsa to deep Casamance trance rhythms, from Fela-Kuti-style afrobeat to traditional Mandinka griot repertoire. Tiliboo Afrobeat is a Berlin-based, international band led by Omar Diop, from Sénégal.