In 1999, N\'Dour released a long awaited international follow-up to 1994\'s Wommat: The Guide. Joko reworks some of the songs that have been hits for N\'Dour in Senegal during the intervening years. It also includes collaborations with international stars, including Peter Gabriel. The American version of Joko, released in 2000, differs from the European version. As such, N\'Dour presents a somewhat complex profile on the international market. By contrast, his Senegalese releases deliver the simple power of his unsurpassed band, Super Etoiles, live in the studio.
Le Grand Bal a Bercy, a 2001 release of a live show recorded the previous year in Paris, gives the Western listener a chance to experience the more high-energy side of N\'Dour and his Super Etoile band usually reserved for his African audience. 2002\'s Nothing\'s In Vain continued the presently fashionable trend of big West African pop stars releasing rootsier albums, perhaps feeling that the time is finally ripe to open Western ears to the more traditional sounds of instruments like kora, balafon, xalam, and the riti one-string violin. Yet at the same time, Nothing\'s In Vain retains N\'Dour\'s trademark pop sensibility--complete with hooks, slow builds, and catchy melodies--while delving into the full range of a voice that is remarkably supple in both high and low ends.
The summer of 2004 saw N\'Dour rededicate himself to the pursuit of uncharted regions of collaboration with the release of Egypt. In contrast to N\'Dour\'s past implementation of Western pop concepts to his music, Egypt tackles a popular music repertory that is geographically, religiously, and culturally much closer to home. With orchestration and arrangement by Egyptian musical don and self-proclaimed \"renegade\" Fathy Salama, this master collaboration breathes new life into the melodic forms of both men\'s countries. Although some of his Senegalese listeners have objected to N\'Dour\'s explicit popularizing of religious music, this intensely personal and spiritual exploration is a stirring tribute to the power and beauty of Islamic music.
">
|
|
|
Easy and secure w/PayPal
Your $20 annual tax-deductible
contribution helps Afropop.org grow.
|
| |
|
|
|
 |
Named African Artist of the Century by Folk Roots Magazine, Youssou N'Dour has popularized Senegalese mbalax around the world and worked with some of the top names in international pop. Read more on Youssou N'Dour...
|
| More Artists |
|
|
|
