For Senegal’s N’Dour, it’s a matter of give-and-take
Youssou N’DOUR has been called “the African voice of the century” and “one of the world’s greatest singers.” That may suggest a whiff of hyperbole, but not in the case of N’Dour, who has been thrilling audiences with his contemporized versions of Senegalese mbalax music for nearly three decades, and who was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people this year.
Add to that his high-profile collaborations with, among others, Peter Gabriel (“In Your Eyes”), Neneh Cherry (“7 Seconds”), Paul Simon, Branford Marsalis, Wyclef Jean and Bruce Springsteen, the release of more than three dozen of his own recordings, and his critically praised acting role as the freed slave Olaudah Equiano in the film “Amazing Grace,” and a pretty convincing case could be made for N’Dour as one of the world’s most visible and successful international artists.
His performance at UCLA’s Royce Hall on Saturday night -- his first Southland appearance since 2005 -- will showcase N’Dour’s inimitable vocals, with their seductive timbral span reaching from growling chest tones to emotion-piercing head notes, in a program heavily weighted with material from his recently released CD, “Rokku Mi Rokka.”
It’s an album that makes a distinct shift of musical and lyrical emphasis from his previous album, the Grammy- winning, Middle Eastern- and Sufi-tinged “Egypt.”
“Rokku Mi Rokka” means, in Senegal’s Wolof language, “give and take” or, as N’Dour describes it, “You give me something, I give you something” -- a reflection of his persistent desire for a more balanced exchange between Africa and the rest of the world.
The music, N’Dour says, was inspired by traditional sounds from the northern desert area of Senegal, but it also simmers with traces of the blues, reggae and Cuban rhythms.
“When people left Africa -- the slavery thing -- I think a lot of music left with them,” he says. “And when we listen to Cuban music or jazz, we feel a part of it coming back. It makes us happy and touches us because it’s a part of our own music.”
A part that N’Dour has blended perfectly with the traditional teachings he learned from his mother, a griot.
Although his transformation of those traditions into music with beyond-boundaries appeal has had a global influence, N’Dour is the first to honor the roots that are the foundation of his art. “People don’t go to school to learn to play West African music,” he says. “It’s about improvisation and talent, coming family by family, generation by generation.”
-- Don Heckman
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YOUSSOU N’DOUR
WHERE: Royce Hall, UCLA
WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday
PRICE: $38-$50 ($25 UCLA students)
INFO: (310) 825-2101
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