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Artist:

Youssou N'Dour

Youssou N'Dour

Born:
1959 in Dakar, Senegal

Representative Songs:

"7 Seconds," "Shaking the Tree," "Medina"

Representative Albums:

Set, Rough Guide to Youssou N'Dour & Etoile de Dakar, Immigrés/Bitim Rew

Similar Artists:

Influences:

Followers:

A Member of the Group:

Performed Songs By:

Jean Philippe Rykiel, Habib Faye

Worked With:

Babacar Faye, Assane Thaim, Alla Seck, Ouzin Ndiaye, Neneh Cherry, Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel
  • Genre: Rock
  • Active: '70s - 2000s
  • Instruments: Vocals, Drums

Biography

Some of the most exciting sounds to come out of Africa in the late '80s and 1990s have been produced by Senegal-born vocalist Youssou N'Dour. Although rooted in the traditional music of his homeland, N'Dour has consistently sought new means of expression. In addition to recording as a soloist, N'Dour has collaborated with a lengthy list of influential artists including Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, Neneh Cherry, and Branford Marsalis. According to Rolling Stone, "If any third world performer has a real shot at the sort of universal popularity last enjoyed by Bob Marley, it's Youssou, a singer with a voice so extraordinary that the history of Africa seems locked inside it."

A native of the impoverished Media section of Dakar, N'Dour inherited his musical skills from his mother, a griot (oral historian) who taught him to sing as a child. A seasoned performer before his teens, N'Dour joined the popular group, the Star Band of Dakar at the age of 19. Within two years, he had assumed leadership of the group, which he renamed Super E'toile De Dakar. With the band accompanying his four or five octave vocals, N'Dour helped to pioneer mbalax, an up-tempo blend of African, Caribbean, and pop rhythms. Performing for the first time in Europe in 1984, N'Dour and Super E'toile De Dakar made their North American debut the following year.

N'Dour's talents soon attracted the support of top-rated musicians. In 1986, his vocals were featured on Paul Simon's Graceland and Peter Gabriel's So. He subsequently toured around the world as opening act for Gabriel. His greatest exposure came when he agreed to be a co-headliner, along with Gabriel, Bruce Springsteen, Sting, and Tracy Chapman, on the Amnesty International Human Rights Now! tour in 1988. The same year, he performed at the much-publicized birthday concert for South African activist (and president) Nelson Mandela at Wembley Stadium in London.

N'Dour cemented his reputation, in 1989, when he released his first internationally distributed album, Set, which included a tune, "Shaking the Tree," that he co-wrote with Gabriel. Signing with Spike Lee's Columbia-distributed 40 Acres & A Mule label, in 1991, N'Dour scored a Grammy nomination with his first effort for the label, Eye's Open. He continued to seek new outlets for his creativity including an African opera that premiered at the Paris Opera in July 1993. Recorded in Senegal, N'Dour's album, The Guide, released in 1994, included his hit duet with Swedish-born vocalist, Neneh Cherry, "Seven Seconds." A steady stream of greatest hits packages, reissues, singles and even a few full length records poured out during the late 90's and into the next century, watching N'Dour work with artists from Etoile de Dakar to Peter Gabriel. ~ Craig Harris, All Music Guide
 
 
Biography: Youssou N'Dour

Senegalese singer, songwriter, and bandleader Youssou N'Dour (born 1959) is a leading proponent of World Music, combining traditional music from his homeland with Western popular culture, Cuban rhythms, and contemporary instrumentation.

N'Dour is among the most popular practitioners of a Senegalese form of music called mbalax, which features the heavy rhythms normally associated with the indigenous mbung mbung drum, kora harp, and balafon xylophone instead being performed by electric guitars and keyboards. Mbalax also employs the traditional Senegalese vocal methods of tassou and bakou; which, respectively, resemble Western rap and rhythm-and-blues vocal techniques. N'Dour helped pioneer mbalax in the 1970s with tremendous success in his homeland and brought the music to international popularity in the 1980s when he toured Europe and the United States as a solo performer and with such Western musical artists as Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon, Sting, and Bruce Springsteen. His efforts to introduce mbalax music to international audiences is assisted by a stunning vocal ability that has been put to good effect on N'Dour's own recordings and on popular recordings by such artists as Gabriel and Harry Belafonte.

Cultural Influences

Born in Dakar, N'Dour was immersed in Senegal's cross-pollination of indigenous music with European traditions. Frequented by Portuguese explorers and French colonialists since the seventeenth-century because of its central location on the continent and its Atlantic Ocean coastline, Senegal became the base for French operations on the African continent in the nineteenth century. As a result, Dakar became a center of commerce that attracted different Central African cultures as well. For example, N'Dour's father was from the Serer culture, and his mother was from a culture known as the Tukulor. However, N'Dour has stressed that he is a Wolof, a national Senegalese culture arising from a language originated in Dakar, which embraces many of Senegal's varied traditional and popular cultural forms.

N'dour was the eldest of eight children. His father was a garage mechanic and his mother was a well-known traditional praise singer or griot. Griots inherit their historical songs and stories from a griot family member of the previous generation and then teach it to the griot of the following generation. Senegalese griots perform at religious ceremonies and family celebrations, combining the distinct vocal phrasings of the Wolof and other Senegalese languages with the singing style of Central African Islamic traditions. After her marriage, however, a female griot violated local customs, and she abandoned public performances.

N'Dour's voice filled the void left by his mother. He began singing at religious ceremonies such as traditional circumcisions, and word of his talent spread until he received an invitation to join the local band Diamono. When he was sixteen, he became one of the chief vocalists for Dakar's most popular band, the Star Band. Formed by Ibra Kasse, the Star Band achieved its popularity by adapting Cuban and Latin American songs into Wolof.

In 1977, N'Dour formed Etoile de Dakar, featuring many of the younger musicians from the Star Band. The music performed by Etoile de Dakar was a polyglot of griot and Wolof regionalism, Senegalese nationalism, Third World rhythms, and urban teenage bravado. Tremendously successful, Etoile de Dakar ended when co-founders El Hadji Faye and Badou Ndiaye left the band. N'Dour rebounded by forming Super Etoile de Dakar and rose to prominence as Senegal's most revered performer.

Much of the music performed by Super Etoile de Dakar displays the influence of N'Dour's adherence to the Mourides belief system. Mourides, one of several Senegalese Islamic groups, adhere to the teachings of Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba, a nineteenth-century teacher of the Koran who encouraged his followers to spend their lives preparing for salvation in the afterlife rather than resorting to violence against economic, cultural, and military oppression perpetrated by their enemies. This salvation is attained by following the instructions of Mourides holy men, called marabouts. N'Dour's songs frequently contain spiritual messages that encourage listeners to obey the instructions of Mourides's marabouts.

While sometimes spiritual, mbalax music also is a highly energetic music that marries Cuban and Latin American styles, and, as John Cho explained: "Melismatic upper-register vocals of Islamic muezzins with the accompanying Arabic modalities were introduced, resulting in a fresh harmonic mix." Mbalax features such percussive instruments as sabars (bass drums), djembes (drums with goatskin heads), and tamas, also known as talking drums. Cho noted: "The rapid-fire dialog between the singer and the tama player is often the climax of a song. … Mbalax also spawned its own high-stepping, high-energy dance called the ventilateur, which raised a ruckus among the pious because of the provocative manner in which the women hiked their boubous and flashed their forbidden legs."

International Stardom

The emigration of African audiences to European capitals created a ready-made audience for N'Dour outside Senegal. N'Dour adapted his music to accommodate French, Fulani, Serer, and English languages for the European tours Super Etoile de Dakar conducted in the early 1980s to fulfill the demands of Africans living in London and Paris. The tours provided international exposure for N'Dour's voice and mbalax music, leading to several fortuitous events.

Performing in London in 1984, Super Etoile de Dakar was seen by former Genesis frontman and successful solo artist Peter Gabriel. Gabriel's interest in World Music was evidenced on his third solo album, released in 1981, which featured African polyrhythms on the song "Games without Frontiers" and a song about slain South African leader Stephen Biko. Gabriel's positive impression of Super Etoile de Dakar's London performance inspired him to travel to Senegal, where he convinced N'Dour to contribute vocals to the song "In Your Eyes" on the English performer's So release. Gabriel also contracted Super Etoile de Dakar as the support act on his world tour. The song, "In Your Eyes," became a huge success for Gabriel after its inclusion on the soundtrack for a pivotal romantic scene in the Cameron Crowe film Say Anything, exposing N'Dour's voice and singing style to international audiences.

Another musical celebrity seeking to reinvigorate his creative impetus was American singer and songwriter Paul Simon. Simon immersed himself in the various musics of Africa while writing and recording the songs for his album Graceland. Among the artists Simon collaborated with on the album and subsequent tour were Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and N'Dour. Graceland was the most successful album of new material in Simon's solo career, furthering international recognition for N'Dour.

Human Rights Advocate

The exposure granted N'Dour and Super Etoiles de Dakar led to an invitation to participate in a 1986 worldwide tour of international artists commemorating South African political prisoner Nelson Mandela's release after twenty-five years. That same year, he wrote and recorded the song "Nelson Mandela." In 1988, he headlined the Amnesty International tour with Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Peter Gabriel, and Tracy Chapman. "Sometimes I feel like a missionary," he told a BBC reporter. "I have a mission to develop something, to bring people together, bring things together, to make things happen at home." In 1990, he contributed a song to the video music project Viva Mandela and performed at a concert in Mandela's honor at London's Wembley Arena.

N'Dour's financial success has enabled him to assist his Senegalese countrypeople. His ownership of a newspaper, a recording studio, a record label, a nightclub, and a radio station allows him to provide employment opportunities. "All these things happening now - my studio, my label, my club, or my radio station - is happening because I'm already a musician," he told the BBC. "My newspaper is not my newspaper. It's just a kind of help, to solve the employment problem and to give the journalists the chance to do what they really want to do."

N'Dour's humanitarian concerns led to his naming as goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in the 1990s. In 2000, he was named Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Food and Organisation.

International Recording Star

Although N'Dour was an established recording star in Senegal, it was not until the late 1980s that he began releasing music on an international label. Released in 1989, The Lion, features the collaborative single "Shaking the Tree" with Peter Gabriel. The Set, released in 1991, furthered N'Dour's reputation as an artist with international appeal. Brian Cullman noted: "If any third-world performer has a real shot at the sort of universal popularity last enjoyed by Bob Marley, it's Youssou, a singer with a voice so extraordinary that the history of Africa seems locked inside it."

N'Dour received two Grammy Award nominations and sales of more than six-hundred-thousand for his 1994 album, The Guide, which includes guests Branford Marsalis and Neneh Cherry. His recording of "Seven Seconds," a duet with Cherry, sold more than one million copies and was named the number one song of 1994 at the MTV Awards Europe. In 1998, he wrote the official anthem of the soccer World Cup finals, "France '98," which he also performed with Belgian singer Axelle Red.

N'Dour took a hiatus from recording for five years before releasing Joko: From Village to Town in 2000. The album contains song collaborations with Sting and Peter Gabriel as well as several songs co-produced by Wyclef Jean that introduce American hip-hop elements to N'Dour's mbalax. "I try to bring things out in the modern way and in the urban way and musically I create a lot of connections," N'Dour said.

Books

Broughton, Simon, Mark Ellingham, and Richard Trillo, editors, The Rough Guide: World Music, Volume I: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, Rough Guides Ltd, 1999.

Romanowski, Patricia and Holly George-Warren, editors, The New Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll, Rolling Stone Press, 1995.

Online

Cho, John, "Senegal: Baobabs, Boubous, and Mbalax," Roots World, 1996, http://www.rootsworld.com/rw/feature/cho-mbalax.html.

McLane, Daisann, "Youssou N'Dour Eyes Open," Rolling Stone, No. 638, http://www.rollingstone.com/recordings/.

"Youssou N'Dour," African Music Encyclopedia,http://www.africanmusic.org/artists/youssou.html.

"Youssou N'Dour," Leigh Bailey Artists of Woodstock,http://www.woodstock.com/html/biow0045.

"Youssou N'Dour: Africa's Music Missionary," BBC Homepage, May 24, 2000, http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/africa/newsid-761000/761088.stm.

 
Black Biography: Youssou N'Dour

singer; composer; drummer

Personal Information

Born on October 1, 1959, in Dakar, Senegal; father was a mechanic; mother was a griot (a community historian and storyteller).
Memberships: Ambassador to the United Nations, Ambassador to UNICEF, Ambassador to the International Bureau of Work.

Career

Singer at ceremonial parties throughout childhood; Star Band, recording/performing group, member, 1970s-?; Etoile de Dakar (Star of Dakar), member, c. 1979-84(?); Super Etoile de Dakar (Superstar of Dakar), member, c. 1984; Joko, Senegalese internet training company, founder, 2001.

Life's Work

Youssou N'Dour is an international star in the field of popular music that has come to be known as "Afro-pop" or "world beat." He is a singer, composer, and drummer whose style has been given the name "mbalax." N'Dour's own particular brand of mbalax has become so popular and widespread that he is often credited with inventing the genre, although Ronnie Graham stated in his authoritative book on contemporary African music that mbalax is a generic Senegalese music characterized by a percussion base and featuring an improvised solo on the sabar drum. Mbalax has also been described as modern Senegalese rock.

Graham described Senegalese pop music of the late 1980s as "a sophisticated blend of the old and the new," with the old being primarily Cuban-influenced melodies and rhythms that dominated Senegalese music prior to the 1970s. The development of local styles was seriously hindered by the French philosophy of exporting their own culture; and local idioms, instruments, and traditions did not begin to appear in urban contemporary music until the 1970s, after Senegal had achieved independence. The tama, a small talking drum, was introduced in the 1970s and became a popular lead instrument.

N'Dour calls his music "African storytelling on the wings of 21st-century instrumentation," according to Vanity Fair. N'Dour's own mbalax features a rhythmic dance band consisting of as many as 14 members, including multiple percussionists, guitarists, saxophonists, and backing vocalists. As N'Dour achieved greater recognition and acceptance among Western audiences in Europe and the United States during the late 1980s, he began to use more traditional African and Arabic sounds in his music. Although he is fluent in French, Arabic, and his native Wolof, his English is not very good. Thus, he is at his best when able to present an appealing and authentic brand of African pop, with its own unique rhythms and vocalizations sung in Wolof, one of Senegal's major native languages.

Inspired by His Roots

N'Dour was born on October 1, 1959, in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, on the west coast of Africa. Historically, Senegal is a part of French or francophone Africa. Musically, external influences within Senegal and other parts of francophone Africa were more restricted than in anglophone or British Africa. N'Dour grew up in a traditional African community within the Medina section of the city, a place has continued to offer great inspiration for his music. He related to Interview that Dakar was to him "a living poem, a place of unbridled energy, remarkable ambition and legendary artistic flair. I know of no other city on earth where people do so much with so little."

The story of N'Dour's upbringing is that his father was a mechanic who discouraged him from a musical career. His mother, however, was a griot in the community. A griot is a historian and storyteller within the community. N'Dour's mother was a respected elder who kept the oral tradition of the community's history alive through traditional songs and moral teachings.

With his mother's encouragement, N'Dour would sing at kassak, a party to celebrate circumcision. As N'Dour described his work then, "Sometimes on one street there would be four or five kassaks going on at the same time. They would start in the evening and I would go to one and sing two numbers, then on to the next.... Sometimes I used to sing at 10 kassaks a night. Gradually, my friends and others encouraged me and gave me confidence, because they liked my singing."

Made It Big with the Super Etoile

By the age of 14, N'Dour was performing in front of large audiences and had earned the nickname, "Le Petit Prince de Dakar," or "The Little Prince of Dakar." As a teenager he joined the Star Band, the best known Senegalese pop band of the time, recording with them and performing in clubs in Dakar. By the time he was 20, he had left the Star Band to form his own group, Etoile de Dakar (Star of Dakar). They recorded three albums in Dakar and had a hit with their first single, "Xalis (Money)." Then they relocated to Paris and reformed as the Super Etoile de Dakar (Superstar of Dakar).

Living in Paris and the European milieu provided N'Dour with a range of new musical influences to contend with. He says, "When I started to play music, I was playing traditional music. But when I came to Europe to listen to the sounds around me, by 1984 I had a new attitude. I'm a new person now [1990], opening fast. I like to change. I'm African, yes, but I like to play music for everybody. But my identity is African. That will never change."

From his base in Paris, N'Dour and the Super Etoile began to win over Western audiences to the sound of mbalax. The Super Etoile consisted of 14 members, probably the largest aggregation N'Dour would ever perform with. The group used traditional Wolof and African rhythms behind N'Dour's unique tenor. N'Dour sang and continues to sing in Wolof, his vocal style often compared to Islamic chanting reminiscent of mosques and temples.

Gained International Attention

By the mid-1980s, the group was ready for a major international breakthrough. They had toured the United States, Great Britain, and Holland, in addition to playing at N'Dour's nightclub in Dakar, the Thiosanne. Remembering his audiences in Dakar and his friends from the Medina, N'Dour made it a point to return there. A song he wrote, "Medina," celebrates his old neighborhood and his old friends, who "are still my friends today and are the people I have around me." As his career progressed, N'Dour remained in touch with his roots and made his home base in Dakar. He told Time in 2001 that living in Dakar "gives me a certain inspiration; it allows me to keep my passion for music alive."

N'Dour and Super Etoile released an album in 1985 that became a classic in the Afro-pop field, Immigres. It was released in the United States three years later. N'Dour increased his exposure to Western audiences in 1986 by appearing as a drummer on Paul Simon's Graceland album. He recorded the Nelson Mandela album in Paris that year and toured the United States twice with Super Etoile, once on their own and once opening for Peter Gabriel. N'Dour sang backing vocals on Gabriel's So album, and it is Gabriel who is the Western musician most responsible for bringing Youssou N'Dour to America and other Western nations.

N'Dour continued to tour with Peter Gabriel in 1988, reducing the size of his band to six pieces and a dancer. In the summer of that year, N'Dour played New York's first International Festival of the Arts at the Beacon Theatre. The influence of American pop on N'Dour was revealed in his playing half a set's worth of American pop and soul, with Nona Hendryx joining him for a song in English and Wolof. New York Times writer, Jon Parelis, wrote of N'Dour, "What makes Mr. N'Dour an international sensation, along with the dance rhythms of mbalax, is his unforgettable voice, a pure, pealing tenor that melds pop sincerity with the nuances of Islamic singing." Noting that mbalax has always combined international influences with Senegalese traditions, Parelis expressed his concern that American pop was diluting the effect of N'Dour's singing and the band's rhythms. N'Dour would later echo this concern in Rolling Stone, when he said, "It's a very difficult balance to keep the roots and bring in a bit of the Western world."

Leveraged His Fame for the Needy

In the Fall of 1988, N'Dour gained even greater international exposure as part of Amnesty International's "Human Rights Now!" world tour. At London's Wembley Stadium, N'Dour joined Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Peter Gabriel, and Tracy Chapman to sing Bob Marley's classic reggae song, "Get Up, Stand Up." It was the start of a 44-day tour of five continents, including such Third World and Eastern bloc nations as Hungary, India, Zimbabwe, Argentina, and Brazil. Only two U.S. dates were included, Los Angeles and Philadelphia.

Over the years, N'Dour has tried to leverage his celebrity to benefit others. To help his country, he bought a newspaper, a nightclub, a radio station, and a recording studio in order to offer employment to his people. He has participated in several charity album recordings. He has campaigned for the debt relief of developing nations. He has served as Ambassador to the United Nations, Ambassador to UNICEF, and Ambassador to the International Bureau of Work. In 2001 he also started an internet training company called Joko in order to introduce a greater number of Senegalese to the World Wide Web. N'Dour's original songs also include political and social commentary.

Personal Messages Woven into His Music

N'Dour is also capable of writing and performing songs with a personal lyric content, songs about his old neighborhood and childhood pals, about the youth of his country, and about roaming the countryside with a friend. In 1989, Virgin Records released a new N'Dour album, The Lion (Gaiende). It was recorded in Paris, England, and Dakar and was produced by George Acogny and David Sancious, who have combined backgrounds in jazz, pop, and rock. The Super Etoile, by now reduced to an eight-piece band, was joined by some Western musicians, including pop-jazz saxophonist David Sanborn. Peter Gabriel and N'Dour sing a duet on one of the album's tracks, "Shaking The Tree." N'Dour sings in Wolof on the album, but English translations of the lyrics are provided. In a review of the album, New York Times reviewer Jon Parelis again expressed his concern that too much Western influence was creeping into N'Dour's music, and he wrote, "Despite an undercurrent of Senegalese drums, the rippling vocal lines and dizzying polyrhythms that made Western listeners notice him are usually truncated."

By the Fall of 1989, Super Etoile was back to full strength with 12 pieces for N'Dour's club dates in the United States. The extra percussion and instrumentation helped restore the driving rhythm of N'Dour's music. Reviewing a performance at New York's the Ritz, Jon Parelis described the "two percussionists whose doubletime and tripletime rhythms restored mbalax's sense of swift, sprinting momentum." He noted that the intricate cross-rhythms combined well with a firm downbeat to provide a mix of Western and Senegalese styles. The show ended with a song about toxic wastes that would be released in 1990 as a single from N'Dour's Virgin album, Set.

N'Dour's songs on Set deal with personal emotions, social problems, and political issues. He says, "Most of the songs I heard in my youth were either love songs or traditional songs recounting the history of the people that I come from--praise songs, historical songs. The lyrics of my own works today I consider to be about the society in which I live, the world in which I live. I want my words to have an educational function."

Dubbed King of West African Music

The international success of Set set the stage for N'Dour to broaden his international fame. It inspired Rolling Stone contributor Brian Cullman to comment that "If any third-world performer has a real shot at the sort of universal popularity last enjoyed by Bob Marley, it's Youssou, a singer with a voice so extraordinary that the history of Africa seems locked inside it." Indeed, his star continued to rise. His 1994 album The Guide garnered two Grammy nominations. He wrote and performed, with Axelle Red, the anthem for the 1998 World Cup in France. By 2000, N'Dour was recognized as the "king of West African music," according to Billboard.

His greatest success came in 2004 when he released the album, Egypt. N'Dour deftly combined Senegalese percussion traditions with Arabic instrumental arrangements. The songs explore his Islamic faith. N'Dour has said that the songs were so personal that he did not intend to release the album, which he recorded with both Egyptian and Senegalese musicians in 1999. But world events soon changed his mind. "My religion needs to be better known for its positive side," he told Billboard. "Maybe this music can move us toward a greater understanding of the peaceful message of Islam." Reviewer Chris Nickson wrote in Sing Out! that Egypt is "one of those rare records that truly deserves to be called stunning, quite possibly the best thing N'Dour has ever achieved which is saying something indeed." His effort was honored with his first Grammy award in 2005.

Awards

Best African Artist, 1996; fRoots, Best African Artist of the Century, 2000; Critics Award, BBC Radio 3, 2005; Grammy Award, for Best Contemporary World Music Album, 2005, for Egypt.

Works

Selected works

    Albums
    • Nelson Mandela, Polydor, 1986.
    • Immigres, Virgin, 1988.
    • The Lion (Gaiende), Virgin, 1989.
    • Set, Virgin, 1990.
    • Eyes Open, Columbia, 1992.
    • The Guide (Wommat), Chaos/Columbia, 1994.
    • Lii, Jololi, 1996.
    • St. Louis, Jololi, 1997.
    • Rewmi, 1999.
    • Joko, Wea/Atlantic/Nonesuch, 2000.
    • Batay, Jololi, 2001.
    • Le Grand Bal, 1 and 2, Jololi, 2001.
    • Et Ses Amis, Universal International, 2002.
    • Nothing's in Vain, Warner/Nonesuch, 2002.
    • Egypt, Nonesuch, 2004.

    Further Reading

    Books

    • Graham, Ronnie, The Da Capo Guide to Contemporary African Music, Da Capo Press, 1988.
    Periodicals
    • Billboard, June 10, 2000; April 17, 2004.
    • Detroit Free Press, October 5, 1990.
    • Detroit Metro Times, October 3-9, 1990.
    • Detroit News, October 5, 1990.
    • Down Beat, May 1987.
    • Interview, May 2001, p. 76.
    • New York Times, July 2, 1988; July 2, 1989; November 8, 1989.
    • Newsweek, September 12, 1988.
    • People, October 10, 1988.
    • Rolling Stone, July 13-27, 1989; November 15, 199D.
    • Sing Out!, Fall 2004, p. 110.
    • Time, September 15, 2001, p. 66.
    • Vainty Fair, November 2004.
    On-line
    • "Youssou N'Dour," Nonesuch, www.nonesuch.com/Hi_Band/index_frameset2.cfm?pointer=ndour.gif (August 12, 2005).
    • Youssou N'Dour, www.youssou.com (August 12, 2005).

    — David Bianco and Sara Pendergast

     
    Wikipedia: Youssou N'Dour
    Youssou N'Dour
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    Youssou N'Dour

    Youssou N'Dour IPA: [jusun̩ˈduːʀ] (born October 1, 1959 in Dakar) is a Senegalese singer and percussionist. In 2004, Rolling Stone described him as, in Senegal and much of Africa, "perhaps the most famous singer alive."[1] He helped develop popular music in Senegal, known in the Wolof language as mbalax, a blend of the country's traditional griot percussion and praise-singing with the Afro-Cuban arrangements and flavors which made the return trip from the Caribbean to West Africa in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s and have flourished in West Africa ever since.

    Background

    Beginning in the mid-1970s the resulting mix was modernized with a gloss of more complex indigenous Senegalese dance rhythms, roomy and melodic guitar and saxophone solos, chattering talking-drum soliloquies and, on occasion, Sufi-inspired Muslim religious chant. This created a new music which was at turns nostalgic, restrained and stately, or celebratory, explosively syncopated and indescribably funky. Younger Senegalese musicians steeped in Jimi Hendrix, Carlos Santana, James Brown, and the whole range of American jazz, soul, and rock music, which Senegal's cosmopolitan capital, Dakar, had enthusiastically absorbed, were rediscovering their heritage and seeking out traditional performers, particularly singers and talking drummers, to join their bands. (The griots—musicians, praise-singers and storyteller-historians—comprise a distinct hereditary caste in Wolof society and throughout West Africa.) As it emerged from this period of fruitful musical turbulence, mbalax would eventually find in Youssou N'Dour the performer who has arguably had more to do with its shaping than any other individual.

    Life and work

    He began performing at the age of 12. Within a couple of years he was performing regularly with the Star Band, Dakar's most popular group in the early 1970s. Several members of the Star Band joined Orchestre Baobab about that time.

    Although N’Dour has connections to the traditional griot caste on his mother’s side, he wasn’t raised in that tradition, learning it instead from his siblings. His parents encouraged him to look at things in a more modern manner, leaving him open to two cultures, with the result that he refers to himself as a modern griot.

    In 1979, he formed his own ensemble, the Etoile de Dakar. His early work with Etoile de Dakar was in the typical Latin style popular all over Africa during that time, but in the 1980s he developed a unique sound when he started his current group, Super Etoile de Dakar featuring Jimi Mbaye on guitar, bassist Habib Faye, and tama (talking drum) player Assane Thiam.

    Youssou N'Dour is one of the most celebrated African musicians in history. A renowned singer, songwriter, and composer, Youssou's mix of traditional Senegalese mbalax with eclectic influences ranging from Cuban samba to hip hop, jazz, and soul has won him an international fan base of millions. In the West, Youssou has collaborated with musicians Peter Gabriel, Axelle Red, Sting, Alan Stivell, Bran Van 3000, Neneh Cherry, Wyclef Jean, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Tracy Chapman, Branford Marsalis, Ryuichi Sakamotoand others. In Senegal, Youssou is a powerful cultural icon actively involved in social issues.

    He is endowed with remarkable range and poise, a composer, bandleader, and producer with a prodigious musical intelligence. The New York Times most recently described his voice as an "arresting tenor, a supple weapon deployed with prophetic authority". N'Dour absorbs the entire Senegalese musical spectrum in his work, often filtering this through the lens of genre-defying rock or pop music from outside Senegalese culture.

    In July 1993, an African opera composed by N'Dour premiered at the Opéra Bastille. He wrote and performed the official anthem of the 1998 FIFA World Cup with Axelle Red "La Cour des Grands".

    N'Dour's major asset is that is strongly grounded in his culture. Even if he chooses to explore elsewhere, his roots are well established. Some have gone so far as describing him as the African Artist of the Century (Folk Roots magazine). He has toured internationally for almost 30 years. He won his first American Grammy Award (best contemporary world music album) for his CD Egypt in 2005.

    In recent years, he has opened his own recording studio, Xippi, as well as his own record label, Jololi.

    N'Dour has associated himself with several social and political issues. In 1985, he organized a concert for the release of Nelson Mandela. He was a featured performer in the 1988 worldwide Amnesty International Human Rights Now! Tour collaborating with Lou Reed to contribute a version of the Peter Gabriel song Biko which was produced by Richard James Burgess and featured on the Amnesty International benefit album The Secret Policeman's Third Ball. He has also worked with the United Nations and UNICEF and he started Project Joko to open internet cafés in Africa and to connect Senegalese communities around the world. He performed at three of the Live 8 concerts (in Live 8 concert, London, Live 8 concert, Paris and at the Live 8 concert, Eden Project in Cornwall) on 2 July, 2005, with Dido.

    In 2006, N'Dour played the African-British abolitionist Olaudah Equiano in the movie Amazing Grace, which chronicles the efforts of William Wilberforce to end slavery in the British Empire.

    Recently, he has covered John Lennon's Jealous Guy for the CD Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur. He also featured in a joint Spain-Senegal ad campaign against illegal immigrants. [[1]]

    Youssou N'Dour participated in the Stock Exchange of Visions project in 2007.

    Discography

    • Bitim Rew (1984)
    • Nelson Mandela (1986)
    • Immigrés (1988)
    • The Lion (1989) - considered his breakthrough album
    • Set (1990)
    • Eyes Open (1992)
    • Guide (Wommat) (1994)
    • Djamil (1996)
    • Inedits 84-85 (1997)
    • Special Fin D'annee Plus (1999)
    • Lii (2000)
    • Joko: The Link (2000)
    • Rewmi (2000)
    • Le Grand Bal (2000)
    • St. Louis (2000)
    • Le Grand Bal a Bercy (2001)
    • Ba Tay (2002)
    • Nothing's In Vain (2002)
    • Youssou N'Dour and His Friends (2002)
    • Kirikou (2004)
    • Egypt (2004)

    Compilations

    • The Best of Youssou N'Dour (1995)
    • Immigrés/Bitim Rew (1997)
    • Best of the 80's (1998)
    • Hey You: The Essential Collection 1988–1990 (1998)
    • Birth of a Star (2001)
    • Rough Guide to Youssou N'Dour & Etoile de Dakar (2002)
    • 7 Seconds: The Best of Youssou N'Dour (Remastered) (2004)
    • Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur - John Lennon's "Jealous Guy" (2007)

    Singles

    Year Title Chart Positions Album
    US
    Hot 100
    US
    Modern
    Rock
    US
    Mainstream
    Rock
    UK
    Singles
    European
    Singles
    France
    Singles
    German
    Singles
    Swedish
    Singles
    1989 "Shaking the Tree" (with Peter Gabriel) - # 9 - #61 - - - - The Lion.
    1994 "7 Seconds" #98 - - # 3 # 8 # 1 # 3 # 3 (Single). Duet with Neneh Cherry.
    2002 "So Many Men" (feat. Joy Denalane) - - - - - # 15 - - Nothing's in Vain (Coono du reer). (Single). Duet with Pascal Obispo.

    Films

    References

    1. ^ Considine, J.D. and Michaelangelo Matos. (2004) Youssou N'Dour. Rolling Stone. Accessed September 2 2007.

    External links


     
     

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    Copyrights:

    Artist. Copyright © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ® , a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
    Biography. © 2006 through a partnership of Answers Corporation. All rights reserved.  Read more
    Black Biography. Contemporary Black Biography. Copyright © 2006 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
    Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Youssou N'Dour" Read more

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