Key to N`Dour: Roots of the Senegalese Star

Key to N'Dour: Roots of the Senegalese Star
Author(s): Lucy Duran
Source: Popular Music, Vol. 8, No. 3, African Music (Oct., 1989), pp. 275-284
Published by: Cambridge University Press
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Key to N'Dour: rootsof the
Senegalese star
LUCY DURAN
Overland travel in Senegal and Gambia is the best introductionto local music.
Blaring out fromevery marketstall, taxi radio-cassetteand record shop in every
town along the trans-Gambianhighway, is the music of Youssou N'Dour, Baaba
Maal, Ismael Lo, Super Diamono, Toure Kunda or some kora player. The smells of
perfumedincense and smoked fish mingle with the rich inflectionsof Youssou's
voice. You stop to buy a piece oftie-dyecloth,or maybeyou are waitingat Farafenni
to catch the ferryacross the river. 'I like his music too much,' says a Gambian
standing next to you, listeningto Youssou's latest cassette, KoccBarma.'I like the
tama (drum)withkeyboards,itmakes me want to dance.' 'That's deep Wolof,'says
another; 'He's singing forAlla Seck who died, Ndyesan(alas).' The nearby stallowner disagrees. 'I preferhis old tapes, like Tabaski,'he says. 'That was sayisayi
(rascal) music, thatwas real Wolof music, now he's too toubab(European). Now I
listento Baaba Maal.' A fourthperson joins in. 'Baaba onlysings forhis own people,
the Tukulor:he doesn't care about anyone else.'
'But Youssou only sings in Wolof,'I comment.'What about those people who
don't speak any Wolof?' They all look at me with a touch of pityand incredulity.
'Everyone speaks Wolofin Senegambia' is the unanimous and confidentreply.
Wolofis themostwidely spoken language ofnorthernSenegal and ithas a rich
and ancientmusical cultureperformedby hereditarymusicians (gewel).Drums are
theirmain instrumentsand there is also a small five-stringlute called the halam
which has a repertoirenot unlikethatofthe kora. But Wolofmusic has also adapted
influencesofmodernurban lifein Africa.Perhaps no
mercuriallyto all the different
othersingerpersonifiesthisWolofabilityto bridgetwo worlds,theold and thenew,
as much as Youssou. Over thelast eleven years,since he firstrose to fame,his music
has swung froma derivativeCuban to a distinctlyWolof sound, later to include
elementsfromjazz, soul and rock.Witheach new cassette- his outputhas been so
prolificthateven he cannot rememberit all - the Senegambian public entersinto a
new debate as to whetherYoussou is stilltheirfavouritestar.
'Whenevera new cassetteof Youssou's comes out,' says Camin Minte,owner
ofone ofGambia's busiestcassetteshops in Serrekunda,'people fussand criticiseit.
They give you thisreason and thatreason why theydon't like it,but stilltheyhang
around theshop listening.They say he's gone too farover to a European style,ornot
farenough. And stilltheylisten. Then all of a sudden everyonestartsbuyingit. In
two weeks I'm totallysold out oforiginals.I hide mylast one so I can run offcopies.
There's so much demand thatI'm runningoffcopies all day. It's playingeverywhere
you go, on theradio, in theclubs, in themarket;people can't getenough ofit.That's
Youssou's music everytime.'
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276
LucyDuran
;~~uB
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il::??:
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Records
1. YoussouN'Dour.Photograph
Virgin
byJakKilby.Courtesy:
Figure
Youssou's riseto famein thelate 1970swas dazzling.Therewas alreadya
inSenegalawayfromEuropeancultural
models;inmusicalterms,
strongmovement
thismeantgoingbackto localmusicalstylesand instruments,
and singingin your
intheirefforts.
ownlanguage.Atfirst
thebandsofthedayweretentative
Gambia's
in
back
the
first
band
to
use
electric
instruments
the
late
1950s,
local
SuperEagles,
I FangBondi,a Mandinkanametohonourtheirnew
had justrenamedthemselves
sound.Theyhad a hitwiththeirversionofthekoratune'Sutuku
'Afro-Manding'
Kumbusora'in1975.Buttheywerealsosinging'HeyJude'andJamesBrownsongs.
WhenI firstheardYoussou sing,in 1979,itwas in theopen-aircommunity
- one
centreofBrikama,
a smalltownintheGambia.He was singinginWolofalright
ofmyfavourite
of
his
from
the
time
was
'Mane
Kauma
Khol'
but
the
backing
songs
was stillveryCuban.He also sanginSpanish,thoughhe rarely
tookthelead.'Soyel
hombre
misterioso
man)' sangthistall,lanky,twenty-year-old
(I am themysterious
and slightlycheekyvoice. The place was packed. Couples
witha high-pitched
danced the pachanga,
the Cuban dance thatAragonand JohnnyPachecomade
acrossthecement
and youcouldhearhundredsoffeetshuffling
famousin Africa,
flooras ifone. Then,thetama,thelittlelaceddrumthat'talks',wouldplaya short
burstincounterrhythm,
and something
magicalhappenedtotheaudience- circles
and dancers,abandoningtheirshoesand
formed,people clappedto therhythm,
the
the
into
centre
to
WolofdancetheGambianscalledndaga;
do
partners,
stepped
thewomen
lotsofswinging,
bottom
Sometimes
and
suggestive,
legmovement.
hip,
would get so carriedaway withthe sound of the tamathattheirwrappedskirts
wouldflyoff,and thosearoundwouldshriekwithlaughter
and delight.Everyone,
be
the
looked
and
relaxed.
It
was
as
if
band,
including
happy
theycould finally
themselves.
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KeytoN'Dour: therootsoftheSenegalesestar
277
The importance of the tama and the rhythm section as a factor in Youssou's
continuing success cannot be underestimated. Ask any Senegalese or Gambian
woman why they like his music and most of them will say the tama. The tama is the
drum that calls to dance; it is played at wedding, circumcision, baptism and any
other Wolof ceremony or festivity.The sound of the tamamakes everyone, especially
women, jump to their feet. And the finest tanmaplayer of all is Assane Thiam, who
has been with Youssou since 1977.
At the Bracknell WOMAD Festival in 1988, Youssou talked about his early
success.
I thinkthatthemainreason why theStarBand and latertheEtoilede Dakar, theband I formed
in 1979,were so successfulwas because I triedto do somethingin mymusic which feltright,
which feltgood; nothingmore complicated than that!It wasn't a question of searchingfor
some remotemusical style;on the contrary,what we did was music thatwas alreadyfamiliar
to the audience, music thatmade people feelcomfortableand at home.
I'm not theone who changed thefaceofSenegalese music. Otherbands were also using
thetama and singingin Wolof.ButI thinkI'm theone who tookthesechanges to theirfurthest
limit. Others were moving in that direction,towards a more traditionalsound, but they
hesitated,theydidn't dare go quite farenough. Maybe theywere afraidofbeing criticised,or
theyweren't sure theywere doing the rightthing,maybe deep down theydidn't even like
what theywere doing ... I was braverand went straightforit. Some musiciansat thattime
hated and rejected the Senegalese sound, but they've ended up doing the same thing
themselves.
Jenny Cathcart, a great friend of Youssou's and an expert on his music, commented
on this in London in November 1988 after one of his visits:
Some 'cultivated'Senegalese, those who have been educated abroad or have lived forlong
periods in Europe, feltuncomfortablewithYoussou's music; theysaw itas too raw. Butwhen
he wrote his song 'Nelson Mandela', and the Presidentof Senegal acknowledged itwith the
'Order Of The Lion', his music became more accepted in intellectualcircles. They couldn't
deny thatYoussou had become theirbest ambassador. In his songs like Bekoor(Drought) and
Immigres
(advising Senegalese immigrantsnot to forgettheirhome country),he tacklessome
of Senegal's most fundamentalissues. Eventually,the intellectualshad nothingmore to say
against him.
It is true though that Youssou's music went through a very, and delightfully, raw
stage, in terms of lyrics and the strong rhythmic basis known as mbalax. Young
Senegalese, says Youssou,
used to thinkthatmusic meant European instrumentslike keyboardand guitar;theydidn't
thinkofpercussionas music. Butforme, percussionwas themostvitalpartofmusic. I saw my
role as bringing percussion into my music, and putting rhythminto even the melody
instruments.So, the guitar and the keyboard in my group also started to play a lot of
traditionalrhythms,and people accepted this because it was translatedinto melody. This
rhythmis thebasis ofall mymusic,rightfromtheearlydays, and I called itmbalax.You know,
that'sthatrhythmyou can hear all the timeon the sabar(the Wolofequivalentof congas) and
tama; it's in mostofmymusic.' He mimesthesharp rap ofthembalaxrhythm.'I tooktheword
mbalaxbecause it's a beautifuland originalword, it's a purely Wolofword and I wanted to
show thatI had thecourage to play purelySenegalese music. It's a real "roots" word, and it's
the rhythmthatthe Woloffeeland love the most, above all it's the rhythmof the griots.
Youssou himself, who was born in 1959 in Dakar, is only half griot; that is, his
mother belongs to the hereditary caste of musicians, but not his father. Youssou's
mother is a Tukulor, a branch of the Fula people from northern Senegal, and in her
youth was a famous gawulo (the Tukulor term for griot). Her fine singing is still
remembered by many, but when she married a guer (non-griot) she had to give up
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278
LucyDuran
music. Youssou attributes his musical ability to a giftof God, not necessarily learnt
directly from his mother.
I didn't really learn to sing, although I knew that I came froma familyof gawulo, and
sometimesI heard mymother'sfamilysingingat ceremoniesand partiesand itwas extremely
beautiful.Froman earlyage I just feltthatI could sing. I neverasked anyone to help me with
that,I went ahead and sang to enjoy myself,the way I mightenjoy myselfplaying football.
I startedsingingin mypartoftown,theparttheycall Medina. [Lateron, Youssou was to
pay tributein one of his best songs, 'Medina', to thisbeautifulsection of Dakar, the 'native'
quarterduringcolonial times,an area of sandy streetsand busy, colourfulmarkets.]You can
tellsomeone fromMedina just by the way he walks. [He sings,and at thatpointhe and other
membersof the band strutconfidentlyacross the stage] I used to sing at kassak(the partyto
celebratethe end of circumcision)and sometimeson one streettherewould be fouror five
kassakgoing on at the same time. They would startin the evening and I would go to one and
sing two numbers, then on to the next . . . sometimes I used to sing at 10 kassaka night.
Graduallymy friendsand othersencouraged me and gave me confidence,because theyliked
my singing; I became a star of the kassak.I used to adore doing this, and when the school
holidayswere over I'd be reallysad. I lived forthe holidayswhen Icould continuemymusic.
Then I startedto performwith a theatretroupe in Medina and word got around about
my voice. A man came along and said he liked mysinging,would I like to join a band? I was
thrilled.So I startedsinging with this band called Diamono (not the same band as Super
Diamono) withBabakar Faye and Ouzin N'Diaye. Diamono used to play regularlyin Gambia
but myfatherwas againstmytakingup music professionallyand refusedtoletme go. So I ran
away in themiddle ofthenight,but myparentscalled thepolice and I was caughtat theborder
and sent back. It was verytough on me.
Youssou's sister, Ngone, recalls how he ran away again, paying for his trip to
Gambia by selling his shoes. 'Our parents didn't want him to sing,' she says,
'because at that time musicians in Senegal were not successful, they didn't make
much money and had a reputation fordrinking alcohol.' (This is of course against the
Islamic religion.)
Youssou was nevertheless, at the age of sixteen, determined to make music his
life.
I decided to have a serious talkwith my parents. At thattimeI was already beginningto be
well-knownbecause I had done a song on the radio called Mba forPapa Samb Diop, and
people likedit. (I did thissong on thealbum titledDiongoma).My success helped me persuade
my parentsto let me continuewith music, so we compromisedby my going to the Ecole des
Artsto studymusic. Then, at last, my fathergave in and said I could sing in a band ifI agreed
to stayin Dakar.
To this day, Youssou lives in Dakar with his family, as tradition demands, in spite of
increasingly frequent and long trips abroad since his collaboration with Peter
Gabriel.
In 1977,I went to see the StarBand, who were thenthenumberone band in Dakar;
theywere
based at the Miami club and theirmanager was someone called Ibra Kasse. I offeredto
sing
with them. Ibra looked at me with surpriseand said 'Wow, you're
reallyyoung!' I replied,
'Yeh, butjust tryme!', which he did and tookme on instantly.So I began singingat theMiami
everynighttopacked audiences, and our musicbecame moreand morepopular. I stayedwith
the Star Band fortwo and a half years with Assane Thiam, the tamaplayer, Babakar, the
percussionist,and one or two otherswho are stillwith me. That's when I wrote songs like
'Mane Khouma Khol' and 'Senegal Sama Rew' (Senegal, my country).
Afterthat,a group ofus decided to formour own band in 1979,withKabou Gueye, the
bass player,Badou N'Diaye, the guitarist,and others.We called it Etoile de Dakar, and from
its birthitbecame the top band of Senegal.
My firstsmash hitwas 'Xalis' ('Money'). It was an extraordinary
success everywherein
Senegal and Gambia and even in Paris.
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KeytoN'Dour: therootsoftheSenegalesestar
279
Thousands of Senegalese were livingin Paris at that time. 'Xalis' was recorded in
1979 at the JandeerNight Club, now the Kilimanjaro, in Dakar, and the record,
Etoile's first,was published in France with generous subsidy fromthe Senegalese
communityin Paris. It stillhas a strongCuban element- itincludes the song 'Soy El
Hombre Misterioso'- but the Wolofcontribution,especially the rhythm,is overriding. 'Xalis' sold like hot cakes in Paris; a few copies even made theirway to London
where theywere snatched up by the young Gambian student community.Youssou's music became the basis fora whole new type of social gathering.Parties in
London would startat 2 a.m. and go on tilldaybreak,withnon-stopand ever-more
virtuosicdisplaysofndaga,theWolofvillagedance. Heavily pleated whitecrimplene
skirtsshook and shuddered to the rapid patterof the tama.Gambians and Senegalese abroad were revellingin the new sound of mbalax.
Youssou's unashamed tributein 'Xalis' to the pleasures of having money Bilahi,xalisnexna(By God, moneyis nice!)- was especiallyrelevantin thecontextofa
new generationof Senegambians who had been exposed to Western values but
rarelyits benefits.George Christensen,a Gambian living in London with a long
professionalconnectionwith Gambian music, recalls how Youssou's songs of this
period were seen as fairlydefiant.
Youssouwas echoingthesentiments
ofthenewgeneration,
and atthesametimeadvocating
thetraditional
- hebridgesthegapbetween
valuesofelders.Thisis one ofhisgreatstrengths
theyoungand theold.
AnotherGambian residentin London, Musa Joh- who recentlybroughtBaaba Maal
over fora UK tour- feelsnostalgicfor'earlyYoussou'.
In thosedaysYoussoujustused tosingmoreorlessstraight
kassak
music.Thiswas musicfor
whatwe calledsayisayi
(rascal,naughty)dancing,itwas thedancingthatboysused to do
whentheywerehealedaftercircumcision,
and theywerewellenoughtostartthinking
about
womenagain.The tamaplayedan important
partinall ofthis.It'smainlya dancecalledhoti
trousers.
Theboyswouldgetintothemiddleofthe
chaya,namedafterthewideArabic-style
circle,holdtheirgroin,and shakeandwobbletheirlegsinrascalfashion,
butnotfortoolong,
otherwise
you'dbe accusedofbeinggay!Thoseweregreatdays.Youssouwouldsinglikean
old-fashioned
andfortheaudience;he'dsay'It'syours,thesongis
praisesingerforhisfriends
yours- I'myours,I'mcallingyou!'Andpeoplewouldfeelso happy,they'ddigdeepintotheir
pocketstogivehimmoney.No-oneplaysthiskindofmusicanymoreinSenegal;maybethe
onlybandthatcomenearto thatfeelingareBaaba Maal.
Tabaski,a cassette fromc.1981 with a song commemoratingthe greatIslamic feast
afterthe end of Ramadan, was another of Youssou's great hits. Although never
officiallyreleased, it was in wide circulation,pirated offradio and live gigs. It is
mbalaxat its height,with lots of almost flamenco-likeminorharmonicshifts,and
frequent changes of tempo from slow to fast and back again, as with village
drumming.This is where the word Thiakas,representingthe sound of the rhythm
guitar playing off the beat, was coined. Words, expressions, dances and even
fashions have come out of Youssou's music. The appeal of Tabaskiwas also in its
lyrics.One of the songs 'Ki sa dom la' ('This Is Your Child') says, 'If your child
troublesyou to the pointof makingyou reallyangry,whateverhappens, don't kick
him out.' Anotherone, called 'Thiapathialy', afterthe name of a bird, is about a
relationshipwhich has just ended. 'You said somethingto me, I said somethingto
you,' the line goes, (meaning 'we let each otherknow we liked each other'). 'Now
you don't say anythingto me, and I don't care, what thehell!' At theend therhythm
speeds up going into a circumcisiondance affectionately
termedboungounbangan,
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280
LucyDuran
the sound of a shaking bottom. This was defiantmusic; above all, it encouraged
Senegambians to be themselves.
My next sightof Youssou was in late 1982 in one of Dakar's best clubs, the
Thiossane. By then he had formeda new group called Super Etoile. A dance called
ventilateur
was all therage,a charmingbutblatantlyeroticdance by women wherethey
turntheirbottomto theonlookerand shake or rotateit,archingtheirback. This dance
has takenon a kindofuniversalstatus,and itis performed
by dancerswithgroupslike
afield.I recentlysaw a Cuban dancer
MoryKante,SalifKeita and othersfromfurther
with Sam Mangwana performventilateur.
Ventilateur
was the rage of the Gambian
in
and
I
was
community London,
looking forwardto seeing it in context,but
evidentlythiswas not to be at theThiossane: Youssou's audience therewas the chic
crowd of Dakar and theydanced European-style,with only a hint of Wolof and a
ratherdetached attitude,thoughtheywere clearlyenjoyingthemusic. Maybe ithad
somethingto do with identity;the furtherfromhome, the more need to act Wolof.In any case, the Super Etoile had moved into anothergear. Says Youssou:
The Etoilewerea greatsuccessand we stayedtogether
formorethantwoyears,butthere
werefinancial
and otherproblems,
so I had tomakethedifficult
decisionofbreaking
away.I
tooksome of theband withme: Assane Thiam,Jimmy
Mbaye,theguitarist,
Pap Oumar
Ngom,whoplaysrhythm
guitar,KabouGueye,OuzinN'Diaye;infact,itwas moreorlessthe
nucleusoftheold group,plus we keptsomeofEtoile'srepertoire,
like'Thiapathioly'
with
somenewnumbersI composed.I thinkthemaindifference
betweentheEtoileand theSuper
Etoilewas thatwe weremoreseriousaboutourworkandwe thought
moreaboutthemessage
of our songs, about where our music was going. We dropped our Cuban repertoire
Don't get me wrong[he added hastily]I stilllove Cuban music.I thinkit's
completely.
and I used to sing it Senegalese. . . but it's completely
fantastic,
out of fashionnow in
Senegal,and thereareno tracesleftofitin mymusic.
Buteven in Super Etoilethere'san occasional flavourofCuba in thehornsection.Itis
only now in the smallergroup who have just been in Paris cuttingthe forthcoming
recordforVirginthatthereare no hornsat all; the finalshedding ofthe Latin
tinge?
Youssou's famous series of cassettes, Volumes 1-13, which contain his best
material,are withthe Super Etoile. Theirfirstincluded a reworkingof'Thiapathioly'
and 'Xarit' ('Friend'); Vol. 2 had 'Aziz' and 'Independence'. Some of these
songs
came out on bootleg records in Europe. Youssou and many other
Senegambian
musicians feelbitterlyabout this bootlegging,but forimmigrantcommunitiesthis
was oftentheironly access to theirown music. I asked Lamin Minte, the cassetteshop owner in Serrekunda whether it did not worryhim, all this runningoffof
bootleg copies.
Yes,ofcourseI worryandfeelbad about'copyright'
buteveryone
does italloverthecountry.
It'sa questionofeconomics.Ifyouwanttoselloriginals,
and that
youhavetobuythemfirst
costsmoneyup front.Sometimeswe don't have it. Sometimeswe don't
sentmany
get
originalsin Gambia,onlya few,and thenhow do you deal withthedemand?An original
cassettecosts45dalasis(c. ?4),anda copyonly16. . ifyoulookattheeconomiccondition
of
mostGambians,theycan'tafford
tobuytheoriginals,
buttheystillwanttheirmusic.Whatare
we supposedto do? Thewholesystemhas tochangefirst.
Musa Johagrees but adds, withreferenceto theearlyYoussou tapes, 'Thank God for
the piratesof those days! Africadidn't release those tapes, and ifit weren't forthe
bootlegs,we would neverhave had Youssou's Tabaskior othergreattracks.'I looked
at my own copy of Tabaski;the label has Tabaskiscrawled on itin Arabicscriptand is
peeling off;it has been on many voyages, and dubbings of it have been played on
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KeytoN'Dour: therootsoftheSenegalesestar
281
radio stationsas farafield as Nigeria, Sudan and Cuba ... I thinkI have to agree
with Musa Joh- at least retrospectively.
With the Super Etoile, Youssou was launched on the beginnings of a truly
internationalcareer. In 1982, he was invitedto Paris, his firstout of Africa.
I performed
inFrancefortheSenegalesecommunity,
andlistenedtolotsofdifferent
kindsof
music- I saw therewas a wholeworldoutthere.Also,aroundthattime,I startedworking
withmusicianswho had a moremodernapproach- especiallyHabibFaye,who playsbass
and keyboardswiththegroup,and his brother,
Adama. Theybroughta new spiritto my
music,thoughwe alwaystriedtoholdon to ourSenegaleseroots.Thatwas howwe started
playinga moremixedkindofmusic.
This was around the timeof Vol. 9 with pieces like 'Africa'and 'Awa Gueye' (later
renamed 'Moule Moule' forthe European market).
Youssou made frequentappearances on Senegalese television,oftenperforming at the Sorrano Theatrein Dakar. Hundreds of bootleg videos found theirway
into general currency,bringinghim into Gambian and Senegalese homes abroad.
This was around 1983-84 and although his music was stillwildlypopular, his fans
would oftencommenton his wooden stancein frontofthecamera oron stage. Itwas
rumouredthatthisgreatsinger,whose music was fullofthe most complexrhythm,
did notknow how to dance. Horrors!Compensatingforthiswas thefactthathe had
two or threesuperb dancers, usually male, who would occasionaly come on stage
with theirhotichayabaggy trousersand performthe most exquisitelyelasticdances
(myown termforthemwas 'the spaghettiboys' because theirlegs were literallylike
stringsof spaghetti).Youssou stood almost self-consciouslybehind them,and the
band, exceptforAssane Thiam, the tama player,were also largelystatic.However,
therewas also themagnificent
rapperand dancer,Alla Seck, who died tragicallylast
year of typhoid. Alla Seck was the animator of the group; he was 'the voice of
Senegal', witha greatgiftforwords, and could whip an audience up to a frenzy,as
with his advice in the song 'Immigres': 'Immigrants,it's good to travel,but don't
take it too farby stayingforever in a countrythatis not your own .. .' The loss of
Alla Seck was a severe blow to Youssou and the Super Etoile, and formany fans,
theirmusic will never be the same withouthim.
Youssou is oftenaccused ofbeing a 'ladies' singer,a rathervague termthatone
suspects eminates fromless popular men; it means that he has more female than
male fans, and also often sings about women. I asked Youssou's sister,Ngone,
about this.
It'smoretodo withmbalax
thanspecifically
withYoussou.Womenlikethesabardrumsmore
thanmendo, and theydancemorethanmen.Womencanspendliterally
millionsonbaptism
or marriage
Whenyou'rehappy,yougivemoneytoa
parties,wheretheydance to mbalax.
musicianora singertoexpressyourenjoyment.
EvenmymothergivesmoneytoYoussou!
At thisNgone remembereda delightfulanecdote.
Once Youssouwas singingat theSorrano,and I wenttherewithmywholefamily.
He was
and mysisterscouldn'thelpthemselves,
singingverybeautifully
theyjusthad togo up tothe
I wantto go too,thenI thought,
stageone by one to givehimmoney.I thought,
Oh no, I
haven'tgotanymoney!Giveme somemoney,I askedmysistersbutthey'dall runout.So I
pulledmyticketout ofmypocketand wentup to giveit to Youssouhopinghe wouldn't
notice.Aftertheconcerthe cameup tomeand said,Hey thanksfortheticket!
I knewitwas
you.
Youssou's firsttripto London was in June1984when he tookpartin Sterns'pioneer
Africanmusic series at the (now defunct)Venue. He wowed the audience with a
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282
LucyDuran
woman dancer,Ndei Haddy Niang, one ofSenegal's mostfamousdancersever; also
a well-knownpatronof music in Dakar and the subject of a lovely song on Tabaski.
Musically as well, Youssou took the audience by storm. For many it was a real
revelation.For Charlie Gillettof Capital Radio's 'City Beats World of Difference',it
was an introductionto a world ofmusicfromwhich he has notlooked back. So itwas
also for Peter Gabriel, who later visited Youssou in Dakar. This was a major
breakthrough.It led to Youssou collaboratingon the track 'In Your Eyes' from
Gabriel's best-sellingalbum. So, followed by an invitationto be the support for
Gabriel'stwo worldtours.This period ofYoussou's careerabroad, his two European
LP releases Immigres
and the hauntinglybeautifulNelsonMandela,up to his recent
contractwith Virginrecordshave already been the subject of many featuresin the
UK music press.
Meanwhile, how was all this exposure affectingYoussou and his music? The
frequenttripsaway fromhome meant that he could no longer do his regularclub
gigs in the Thiossane or the Sahel. He formeda second group, Etoile 2, to hold the
home front.Included in this group are Kabou Gueye, the bass playerwho he took
with him fromthe originalStar Band and the singerMalang Cissokho, the son of
Senegal's most famouskora player,Soundioulou Cissokho. Etoile 2 have theirown
cassetteout in Senegal; the opening trackis a koratune called 'Wara' and featuresa
magnificentvocal duet between Malang and Youssou. Having a 'second formation'
gives Youssou a bit of room to experimentwith different
stylesand repertoiresfor
thehome audience. Senegal is a countryofmanyculturesand languages, and bands
oftenhave to sing in different
languages, such as Mandinka, Fula or Jola,according
to the region.When Youssou performedin December 1988 in Ziguinchor,southern
Senegal to an audience of5,000,manyofwhom were Mandinka and Jola,he played a
much-lovedkoratune 'Musa Coli Sabari', whichcommemoratesa Jolatrader.Mbaye
Faye, Super Etoile'sbrilliantpercussionist,leapt to his feet,slightlybentat thewaist,
and with raised arms performedthe energeticJoladance. He was joined by nearly
thewhole audience - a breathtakingsight.Youssou won over audiences in Bamako,
the capital of Mali, by doing 'Wareff',a version of a song by Mali's top traditional
woman singer,Fanta Damba. Beforethe concert,he gotintoa taxiand went to meet
thisgreatsinger,who had recentlybeen on the pilgrimageto Mecca and had vowed
not to sing in public again. 'I admire her music enormously,' says Youssou. 'It is
deep folklore.It is the rootsofmuch ofWest Africa'sculture.'The music was partly
arrangedby Pap Oumar Ngom, another hereditarymusician in Youssou's group,
whose highlyrhythmicand somewhat plaintivestyleof guitarplayingis one of the
hallmarksofYoussou's music. In conversationwithus afterthe Ziguinchorconcert,
Youssou got quite animatedover a casual enquiryfromIan Anderson as to whether
he might one day consider recording a special project album with traditional
musicians.
WorkingwithPeterGabrielhas had an immeasurableimpacton Youssou. This
is the most obvious in his new styleof stage presentation.Most excitingly,Youssou
has proved theold rumoursthathe 'can't dance' are farfromtrue- in fact,he dances
exceptionallywell, with greatcharm and impeccable sense of timing.None of the
band stands still any more; their movements are subtly choreographed, with
considerablewit, to reflectthe subject of the song. SometimesMbaye Faye, who is
delightfullyexhibitionistwith a devillishgrin,cannot resista bit of hotichaya.The
spiritofkassakwithits rascal dancing lives on, in spite of synthesisersand contracts
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KeytoN'Dour: therootsoftheSenegalesestar
283
with multi-nationals,and thisis what makes Youssou stillthe most popular starin
Senegal and Gambia.
In January1988 in Gambia, I talked to IbrahimaJarju,the main dj at Gambia's
Radio Syd:
Here at Syd, we get thousandsof lettersfromour listenersrequestingGambianmusic,
musicianslikeI FangBondi.Theproblemis,we haveno recording
studiohere,and it'sthree
or fouryearsbeforetheyare able to makea new record.You can'tgo on playingthesame
recordoverandover,yearafter
newmaterial.
So we have
year,youhavetogiveyourlisteners
to playtheSenegaleseartists.I playMusa Ngom(SuperDiamono),Baaba Maal, and many
othersplussomeoldtracks
likeSalifKentaandMoryKantewiththeRailBand.Butif
byartists
here,thenthat'sanotherquestion.
you ask me who is theartistwiththebiggestfollowing
Herein theGambia,YoussouN'Dour is stillat thetop. He's notGambian;I'm a dj, butas
musichasnoboundariesI'vegottospeakoutthetruth.
His musicis great,especially
hislatest
cassette,KoccBarma- you wouldn'tbelieve- itevenhas thesynthesiser
soundinglikeour
balafon.Youssouis gifted.I'm notpraisinghim.I'm tellingyouthetruth;
he knowsexactly
whathe'sdoing.IfPa Toure[thesingerfrom
I FangBondi]werelikethat,maybewe'dlikehim
as muchas Youssou,butwe've had nothingnew fromthemforfouryears,and I'm sorryto
saywe'retiredofit!
Youssou had just done two shows in Gambia; the firstwas an all-nightdance at St
Augustine's High School in Banjul, where he played virtuallyhis entirerepertoire
startingwith Tabaski,and where he was showered with what looked like literally
hundreds of 25 dalasi notes by an inebriatedrestaurantowner. On one side in a
cordoned offarea sat the VIPs - governmentofficialsand hotel owners in richly
coloured or embroidereddamask cloth,or safarisuits,withgorgeouswives, decked
withgold. In frontofthe stage were some 3,000young Gambians madlyperforming
ndaga. Banjul is not a drytown; thereis a heftynon-Muslim(i.e. alcohol drinking)
population, and by 4 a.m. the audience was getting a bit unruly. An overenthusiasticand definitelyquite drunk fan jumped on to the stage. The police
threatenedto pull himoff,butYoussou, witha smileon his face,managed to gethim
offwitha few polite words.
The next day he did his 'lights show' at the stadium in Bakau. This is a
choreographed,highlytheatricaland humorous presentationoftwenty-five
songs,
with orchestratedlighting,a trickYoussou learntfromhis world tour with Peter
Gabriel. We had to wait forthe sun to go down so we could see the lights,which
meant the show startedabout two hours late. Youssou had not been in Gambia for
well over a year and the audience was impatient.At last, the MC began introducing
membersof the band, and Habib Faye, on keyboards,took up the soaring tune of
'Bes' fromtheirlatest cassette. When Youssou finallymade a dramaticentrance
takingup the song, therewas a roarfromthe audience; itwas true,he was dancing,
he could dance! Theirappreciationof thisartist,whose music theyhave lived with
forso many years, instantlydoubled.
affectionately
The new album Youssou is doing forVirginis going to have several numbers
fromhis last two cassettes,Jammand KoccBarma,plus one or two rocknumbers.He
has pared the group down: horns are out, theirriffsare played instead on a second
keyboard provided by ex-Toure Kunda musician, Alain Loy. Ouzin N'Diaye, the
fruitysecond voice behind Youssou, stayed at home to make a solo album; thereis
no lead guitar.
They got mixed reviews in New York,but Youssou says,
Sometimes
critics
reviewwiththeireyesand nottheirears;theyexpecttosee 15musicianson
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284
LucyDuran
stageand whentheysee only7 theyassumethemusicis notas good.Butiftheywouldonly
listentheywillprobablyfindthatitis bettermusic.I havechosentheverybestmusiciansfor
becausethat'swhatgivesa particular
andI amalsoveryinvolvedinthemixing,
thisrecording
intorockjustbychangingthemix.I wantthis
sound.You canchangeourmusicfrommbalax
recordwithVirgintosoundcloserinspirittothecassettesreleasedinSenegal,butwithbetter
technology.
Curiouslyenough, Charlie Gillettrevealed on his Capital show in August 1988 that
found the originalmastersmuffled.In a
Earthworks,when re-releasingImmigres,
new re-mix,workingfromthe multi-track,
theyhave been able to bringthe tamaand
sabarto the frontagain and restorethe mbalaxsound.
Virginalso have plans, so Youssou says, to bringout all his Volumes 1-13, as
are.
they
Astutely,Youssou has kept all the masters.Hopefully,we will all soon be
able to hear a littlemore of his 'rascal' music.
Acknowledgement
This articlewas firstpublished in FolkRootsand is reproducedwiththeirpermission.
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