Pape Demba "Paco" Samb

Pape Demba "Paco" Samb is a Senegalese-American griot, hand drummer, storyteller, and educator of Wolof ancestry. Based in the United States, he performs throughout the country and has been described by the Delaware government as an "internationally acclaimed artist." Paco has performed with musicians of Senegal and the Gambia including Laba Sosseh, Musa Ngum, and Bala Sidibé. Paco has stated his belief in his ability to instruct those "who have never touched a drum before."

Paco plays both traditional and contemporary Senegalese music as well as "reggae, rap, funk, jazz, pop and a variety of other styles."

His own band, the Super Ngewel Ensemble,

Personal life Pape Demba Samb was born in 1976 in Dakar, Senegal. He was born into the Samb griot family, who "have been the keepers of the ancestral history, stories, and music of his native Wolof peoples in Senegal for hundreds of years." His entire family is skilled in dance, drumming, singing, and storytelling.

Musical performances Circa 2013, Samb drummed in charity concerts for SOS Children's Villages in Chicago. The following year, Samb released his first album. a course on drumming at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland.

Other classes In 2022, Paco taught "West African rhythms via hands-on bucket drumming" during The Grand Opera House's Summer in the Parks series in Wilmington, Delaware.

Throughout February 2023, the Oxford Arts Alliance collaborated with Paco to lead a "drumming masterclass" as well as performing as part of an ongoing exhibit series in Oxford, Pennsylvania.