Mor Thiam

Who is Mor Thiam?

Mor Thiam is a Senegalese drummer, cultural historian, entertainment consultant and is the father of the famed singer Akon . His surname is pronounced "Chahm". He has a grandniece named Neneh Silla.

Thiam, a member of the Dogon ethnic group, played drums from before the age of eight and had begun playing professionally by age 12. His surname, Thiam, means "historian" in his native tongue, and he comes from a family whose members use drums to tell the story of Senegal's Wolof people. His instruments include tama, sabar, and djembe.

Thiam settled in the United States in 1968, at the invitation of the noted choreographer Katherine Dunham. He settled in St. Louis, where he worked with Dunham and with the Black Artists' Group, a multidisciplinary arts collective. He has maintained homes in Atlanta and Dakar since the mid-1990s.

In 1973 and 1974 he performed with the jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard and has also performed and recorded with the World Saxophone Quartet. He toured Europe with the Alvin Ailey Dance Company. He has also performed and recorded with the cross-cultural ensemble No World Improvisations, with Jin Hi Kim and Joseph Celli.