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Moussé Dramé was born in the well-known Bambara Griot family Diabaté-Dramé in Dakar, Senegal. His sister Tackou Cissokho is the choreographer of the National Ballet of Senegal and musical president of the Bambara’s in Senegal, his brother Kissima Diabaté travelled years with the National Ballet, his cousin Ibou N’Diaye is also the cousin of the famous sabarcomponist ‘papa’ Doudou N’Diaye Rose and his uncle Alioune Diabaté is the musical president of the Bambara’s in France.
Moussé started to play before he could walk as he grew up with his father playing percussion and his mother and aunt singing at traditional Bambara celebrations (Bambara is an ethnic group of Malinese origine).
Moussé tells how he remembers to be surrounded by Music when he was a child. Every month there was a "Djalifoli" (Bambara celebration) at his house. All the important instruments for a Djalifoli were at their house: the djembé, talking drum, doundoun, kora, kamalinkoné, bolon, xalam and watercalabasses. Moussé recalls the enormous djembé, which all the kids of the family loved as it was like a piece of gold for them. His older brother Kissima would lift Moussé up and told him to play and the whole family went crazy as Moussé did not want to stop.
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Moussé travelled in Senegal with his parents and other teachers like Cantara Sago to many wedding, baptem and other ceremonies to accompany the rhythms that were needed. He recalls that because he was so little he did not have enough power and technique at that time so that period was a tough learning school. But his teachers gave him the courage to continue and at the age of 12 Moussé was professional Bambara djembé and doundoun player .
When Moussé was just 14 years old, he was asked as a solist of Ballet ‘Locasia’ of artistic leader Seydou Cissokho. In this ballet Moussé learned to play the sabar, seourouba and nkrin. Furthermore he became solist of the well known ballet of artistic leader Joe Coly. Mansour Gueye asked Moussé to join his of Ballet Rakadjou and Moussé left with the Ballet on the age of 15 to Spain, where he performed 1,5 years. In the years after he toured also Europe with this Ballet and he was invited to teach and perform in Switzerland.
Since 1998 Moussé lives in Amsterdam and founded with his wife Turid Dramé the Djembé Dramé company. Moussé teaches five days a week percussion classes in Amsterdam and surrounding cities and gives workshops throughout the Netherlands, Belgium, France, the US and Switzerland.
Moussé and Turid also founded the Djalidonkoli Foundation which organizes the yearly International West-African Percussion and Dance Weekend Workshop on the island Schiermonnikoog and the 2-yearly Percussion and Dance workshop in Senegal. In the 12 years Moussé is living in the Netherlands he continued to study and is now also a professional player of the Ngoni, talkind drum and balafoon.
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Moussé performs with the bands Rimbaax, Kokoura, his own Djembé Dramé Group and with his advanced students Group from Amsterdam. He also performed as a guest percussionist for Famadou Konaté, Opo Yéyé, Kuifje in Afrika and Cesar Zuiderwijk in Atlantis-Alkmaar, the Melkweg-Amsterdam, Festival Mundial-Tilburg, Afrika Festival Hertme, Alto-Amsterdam, Paradiso-Amsterdam, Bang the Drums Festival, AMP Percussie Festival, gala’s of Orange Babies and more.
Moussé is een true connoiseur of the Senegalese and Guinean rhythms but a specialist in the traditional Bambara rhythms from Mali, what makes him a unique in Holland as he is one of the few.
His classes and workshops are known for the interaction of hard work, fun and enthusiasm between his students and himself. His dream is that the Bambara culture is spread and as he says: “I want to pass on the rhythms as I’ve learned by my master teachers in the villages to those who are interested to learn them”.
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