Senegal River relates the legend that both the Senegal and the Egyptian Nile were branches of the Biblical Gihon River that stems from the Garden of Eden and flows through Ethiopia. He also notes that the Senegal was called "the Niger" by the ancients - probably a reference to Ptolemy's legendary 'Nigir' (Νιγειρ) (below the Gir), which would be later identified by Leo Africanus with the modern Niger River. Much the same story is repeated by Marmol in 1573, with the additional note that both the Senegal River and Gambia River were tributaries of the Niger River. However, the contemporary African atlas
Music of Senegal Blues which explores African blues & traditional West African styles, this led on to the formation of The West African Blues Project. Music of Senegal Senegal's music is best known abroad due to the popularity of mbalax, a development of Serer "sabar" drumming popularized by Youssou N'Dour. During the colonial ages Senegal was colonized by France and many, though not all, Senegalese identified as French instead of any African ethnicity. Post-independence, the philosophy of negritude arose, which espoused the idea that the "griot" traditions of Senegal were as valid, classical and meaningful as French classical music. The first President of