Youssou N'Dour-- the Godfather of AfroPop, Mbalax Brother Number One, the Hardest Working Senegalese in Show Business -- put on one of the best performances I've seen in many years, last weekend at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival. Those James Brown references aren't accidental. The last musician that I saw take control of an audience and transport it into into a state of ecstasy so masterfully was indeed Soul Brother Number One in his prime.
Youssou N'Dour, Cape Town, 26 March 2011. (All photos copyright John Edwin Mason, 2011. Click on any of these images to see much larger versions.)
N'Dour doesn't need me to sing his praises. He's almost certainly the best known African musician currently working and one of the most highly regarded. As a singer, composer, and bandleader, he's made mbalax -- a blend of traditional Senegalese music, pop, funk, jazz, and music from the Caribbean -- a major force in the musical world.
Youssou N'Dour, Cape Town, 26 March 2011.
N'Dour wouldn't have risen to the summit of the musical mountain, however, without also being one of the world's truly great performers.
Youssou N'Dour and Pape Moussa Sonko, Cape Town, 26 March 2011.
It was wonderful to see a master and his band at work. I was grooving, just like everyone else, despite that fact that I was there in a professional capacity as a photographer and writer. (Frankly, if I hadn't been grooving a performance so powerful, I wouldn't have any business writing about music.)
Youssou N'Dour, Cape Town, 26 March 2011.
Like many musicians, N'Dour is terrific on recordings, but absolutely magical on stage. By the way, I was shooting with a wide angle lens, so was about ten feet from N'Dour when I made this photo. That's like being ten feet from a lightening bolt.
The crowd was putty in N'Dour's hands. Cape Town, 26 March 2011.
The audience at Kippie's, the largest of the several festival venues (it probably holds 5,000 people), couldn't get enough. As you can see, N'Dour attracted fans of all colors and creeds.
Youssou N'Dour, Cape Town, 26 March 2011. (Remember, you can click on any of these photos to see larger versions.)
Some people complain that performers like N'Dour have no place at a jazz festival. I think that's wrong on several grounds. In terms of the simple economics of the festival, it's hugely popular acts like N'Dour that make it possible to host challenging jazz groups, like Wayne Shorter's quartet, that bring in smaller crowds.
More importantly, it's silly and futile to draw sharp boundaries between musical genres, especially those like AfroPop and jazz, which are part of the same family.
As Duke Ellington once said, there are really only two kinds of music -- good and bad.
Lucky you!
Posted by: Jenny | 30 March 2011 at 09:24 AM
Being part of the audience, i have to agree that Yossou N'Dour's performance was great as well as his band and the dancer Papa Moussa Sonko.
Posted by: Hugh Petter | 30 March 2011 at 11:18 PM
I was there and I totally agree ! I was travelling South Africa and he had me! Can you tell me the name of the song he did about Africa. It was the slowest most emotional peace and it was just him and the keys player...
Posted by: Monique | 05 April 2011 at 11:18 AM
Hi, Monique. I sorry, but I didn't recognize the song that you mention. I agree, it was very beautiful and very moving.
Posted by: John | 05 April 2011 at 11:41 AM