Youssou N'Dour

The chattering classes had a field day with Rokku Mi Rokka, proclaiming it both a stunning return to form and further proof that N'Dour's will sell his soul to cross over (this time while capitalizing on the recent popularity of desert blues bands). Ease up, guys. Minus a few miscalculations (including, sadly, the duet with Neneh Cherry), this is a lovely album. When N'Dour is on, he opens a door in you and walks right in -- and he's on for a lot of Rokku. His explorations of Senegalese border music in particular give his soaring voice lots of room to maneuver.

At forty-eight, the Senegalese singer-bandleader Youssou N'Dour has been the world's
most consistent record maker all decade. His third album for Nonesuch isn't stone genius
like 2002's chanson-inflected Nothing's in Vain or 2004's Sufi-themed Egypt. But N'Dour has
learned how not to be swamped by his own internationalism, and here his strategy of
moving a few favorite musicians north to Mali changes up the Senegalese mbalax... More >

At 48, the Senegalese singer-bandleader Youssou N'Dour has been the world's the most consistent record maker all decade. His fourth album for Nonesuch isn't stone genius like 2002's chanson-inflected Nothing's in Vain or 2004's Sufi-themed Egypt. But N'Dour is no longer ever swamped by his own internationalism, and here his strategy of moving a few favorite musicians north to Mali changes up the Senegalese mbalax he invented without surrendering its Sahel gestalt. Translations from the Wolof reveal lyrics about Senegalese independence, Sufi saints, the value of traveling, remembering, thinking. They're worth following, as are the phonetic transliterations. But with N'Dour, the prime attraction is always musical, radiating out from a voice whose sky-like clarity and beseeching high end would catch you short in a singer half his age, but always including striking multi-part melodies and skilled guitar-bass-drums-drums-drums. Ali Farka Toure sideman Bassekou Kouyate banjo-fies five tracks on four-stringed ngoni. And if you're good, Neneh Cherry will treat you to a duet on an English-language closer that's worth the wait. (Grade - ****)