To look at him, you wouldn't guess that Doudou N'Diaye Rose is pushing 80. The Senegalese master percussionist stomps and dances around the stage with an energy befitting someone a quarter his age as he conducts drum ensembles of up to 100 members.
Whether it's the 500-odd new rhythms he claims to have invented, or the 38 children he's said to have fathered, there's never been any question of doing things by halves in the course of N'Diaye Rose's fertile career. Last year, he received the ultimate accolade when Senegal declared him a Living Human Treasure.
Born into a musical lineage, N'Diaye Rose nevertheless had to overcome staunch opposition from his family to pursue his chosen vocation. His father was a chartered accountant, and a maternal uncle would beat him when he skipped school to practice.
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