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Dakar - Kingston
 
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Dakar - Kingston [Enhanced]

Youssou N'Dour Audio CD
3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
Price: £15.00 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Music

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Biography

After countless forays into the western world, Youssou N'Dour chose Dakar as a base from which to lead his geopolitical campaign in music. His strategy is pan-African: "What all of us Africans share is much more important than what we don't share," says this elegant, fifty-year old youngster, who grew up in the Medina in Senegal's capital city, Dakar. Bringing unity to the African continent has… Read more in Amazon's Youssou N'Dour Store

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Product details

  • Audio CD (12 July 2010)
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Format: Enhanced
  • Label: Emarcy
  • ASIN: B0036QU7XA
  • Other Editions: Audio CD
  • Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 118,466 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

1. Marley - Youssou N'Dour, Mutabaruka
2. Medina
3. Joker - Youssou N'Dour, Patrice
4. Bololene
5. Bamba
6. Black Woman
7. Survie
8. Africa Dream Again - Youssou N'Dour, Ayo
9. Diarr Diarr
10. Don't Walk Away - Youssou N'Dour, Morgan Heritage
11. Bagn Len
12. Leteuma
13. Pitch Me

Product Description

BBC Review

With its Dakar–Kingston title and an opening track simply called Marley, it would seem that this album is designed as a tribute to Jamaica's king of reggae music. Upon further investigation, the king of African music (well, one of them) has elected to pay homage to Bob Marley and the Wailers in a less obvious fashion.

Youssou N'Dour is revisiting songs from his own back catalogue, picking representatives from five older discs. The original material here is in the minority. He's been recording in Marley's old Tuff Gong studio in Kingston, with Wailer keyboardist Tyrone Downie at the production helm. There were also sessions in Dakar and Paris, so this is a typically international project.

Downie has had a significant input in the new reggae-fied arrangements of the songs, and has gathered together a creamy crop of veteran players. Where else would it be possible to hear the guitar combination of Oumar Sow, from N'Dour's regular combo, and Earl 'Chinna' Smith, from almost every 1970s reggae album conceivable? Also on hand are saxophonist Dean Fraser and percussionists Bongo Herman and Sticky Thompson, though the disc's booklet manages to misspell most of their names.

Marley features N'Dour very directly addressing Bob's legacy, assisted by the raspingly intoned verses of Jamaican poet Mutabaruka. This one song succinctly details the mission at hand. It's a gentle reggae lope, highly poppy with its little synth worms and harmonious backing vocals.

N'Dour often sounds ungainly when singing in English, but his accent does possess a certain charm. Before too long, he's back into Wolof lines, doing an electro-dancehall strut to "Medina". He's back to English for "Joker", joined by a guesting Patrice. "Bamba" is extremely catchy, making a brisk stride, with clipping keyboard punctuations, the horn section adding extra bounce. "Black Woman" is the epitome of N'Dour's simple and approachable stance here. His mixture of Senegalese mbalax and Jamaican reggae is finely balanced throughout the course of this entire disc, best showcased on "Diarr Diarr".

Morgan Heritage guests on "Don't Walk Away", the first of two tracks that feature some eerie harmonica trilling. Usually, this role would be tackled by a melodica, but these parts are surely taken by a mouth-harp. N'Dour saves his best soaring vocal delivery for the closing "Pitch Me", a tightly-woven skank that boasts a fulsome bassline, detailed percussion and a rich weave of voices.

--Martin Longley

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Youssou Ndour has this marvellous capability to make you feel better whenever you hear him. The album opens gently with Marley. This is a new song, on which Yusuf Islam (better known as Cat Stevens) and Tyrone Downie (from the Wailers) collaborated. There are some very good new songs such as Black Woman, Diarr Diarr and Bagn Len.

About half of the songs are not new but they have been reworked and given a reggae twist: the catchy Medina (first recorded in 1985 but included on Set), Joker (which was on some versions of 2002's Nothing's in Vain..), Bololene (which was on Alsaama Day of 2007 but which is now released internationally for the first time), Bamba (from 1994's The Guide (Wommat)), Survie (which was on 1992's Eyes Open), Don't Walk Away (from 2000's Joko), Africa Dream Again (also on Nothing's in Vain..) and Pitch Me (from 1984's Immigres). Sometimes it's difficult to decide which version is the better one and you won't regret buying this CD!

I had the chance to see Youssou Ndour twice in concert last summer. He gave us 'a musical journey from Kingston to Dakar' where reggae blended into mbalax and where the excellent musicians made sure that everybody was dancing from beginning to end. Catch them if you can!
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Youssou Ndour is the master of mbalax and here he proves again how easily he can handle new material. Those who are superficial and unschooled in the reggae of the 1970s will not comprehend the power of this creation. His journey from Dakar to Kingston is pure genius and so refreshing. The lyrics are equally powerful. The duets resonate with anyone with a musical ear. This is a crossover album and if you are looking for vocal talent, superb and seamless reggae/mbalax musical fusion and an incredible sound a la 1970s style enjoy this album. The CD brings relaxation and reflection - a pure breath of fresh air.
Enjoy the genius of the maestro. I hope there will be a follow up to this great album.
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7 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Youssou's music has elements of reggae anyway and it works really well in the mbalax style....
But this? Why, oh why, oh why?
Dreadful.
If you like the awful duets with Sting, Peter Gabriel or Neneh Cherry (well 7 seconds wasn't too bad) then go ahead, you'll love this.
It's the worst bits of the Joko album mixed with the low light of the Rokku Mi Rokka album - the terrible duet with Neneh 'my name is Neneh C I wanna go ta pee' Cherry, Wake up it's Africa calling.
Avoid, and wait for the next Senegalese album.....
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