greg said:
Is the new album by Youssou n'Dour (actually not new: he recorded it 5 years ago for his personal use). Youssou is a singer from Senegal. He is also a muslim and belongs to an African variant of a Sufi brotherhood.
The album effectively consists of praise and devotional songs to God and to the founders of his Sufi Brotherhood. The music itself is a surprisngly subtle mixture of the West African styles N'Dour popularised in the 70s with his legendary and brilliant group Les Super Etoiles de Dakar, and the Egyptian secular musical style best known in the West through artists such as Oum Kalsoum and Farida.
The rhythms cleverly mix Arab and African rhythms and styles; Arab rhythms in 12/8 and 6/8 form the core.But where African begins and Arab ends is not always very obvious; this is a true fusion.
A typically huge, swinging and super nimble Cairo string section, orchestrated by Egyptian super arranger Fathy Salama, is what dominates the proceedings (it's an Arab string section, but with a couple of Russian expat musicians in there!), along with the *very* Egyptian oblique flute (kawala), plus cowbell, kora and the occasional burst of Wolof percussion.
Youssou spent most of the 80s and 90s trying (and mostly failing) to please western audiences with dumbed down Laswell and Meisonnier productions. He succeeds here by being himself and doing what he wants to do. This is his best album in two decades IMHO.
HTH...
The album is on nonesuch (
www.nonesuch.com), which is down right now. Youssour's site is
www.youssou.com/
HTH