Mokhtar Samba

Born in 1960, Mokhtar Samba grew up between Sidi Kacem and Casablanca in a setting shaped by Moroccan and Senegalese heritage, before moving to France — Champigny‑sur‑Marne — in 1972. Initially trained in percussion and later attending the conservatory of Fontenay‑sous‑Bois for classical percussion, he subsequently taught himself the drum kit and developed a style that blends jazz, fusion and African rhythms. Discovered in the early 1980s by Eddy Louiss, Mokhtar Samba entered the jazz‑fusion circuit and multiplied collaborations on French and international stages. He was a member of the Orchestre national de jazz from 1987 to 1989, then joined Ultramarine alongside musicians including Mario Canonge, Nguyên Lê and Étienne Mbappé, in an aesthetic open to electric jazz, African musics and the interplay of multiple rhythmic traditions. At the end of the 1990s he founded Mossan, a more personal project that continued his exploration of groove, polyrhythm and composition. His album Dounia was released in 2005. Over the course of his career he has also played with artists such as Salif Keita, Youssou N’Dour, Manu Dibango, Joe Zawinul and Souad Massi, and in 2015 he collaborated with the WDR Big Band.