Comments on: BAABA MAAL featuring ERNEST RANGLIN / “Koni” http://www.kalamu.com/bol/2008/03/31/baaba-maal-featuring-ernest-raglin-%e2%80%9ckoni%e2%80%9d/ a conversation about black music Thu, 04 Dec 2008 02:32:36 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5 by: Kweli http://www.kalamu.com/bol/2008/03/31/baaba-maal-featuring-ernest-raglin-%e2%80%9ckoni%e2%80%9d/#comment-50333 Mon, 31 Mar 2008 12:26:11 -0500 http://www.kalamu.com/bol/2008/03/31/baaba-maal-featuring-ernest-raglin-%e2%80%9ckoni%e2%80%9d/#comment-50333 My question over the years was actually “When y’all gonna do some Youssou?” I’d do a search from time to time and couldn’t believe when I kept seeing “No pages matched… ” I thought, surely this is a mistake or that you would eventually get to him. Surely. Youssou’s my second favorite artist from Africa and in my top 5 of all musicians. I love “Egypt.” Most of the songs on there have that orchestra sound and exhibit, as Mtume mentioned, “strength and grace, power and calmness.” I think Youssou even won a Grammy for this album (Although P.E. begged the question some time back: “Who gives a F about a g damn Grammy?!). His albums “Nothing’s In Vain” and “Joko” are nothing to sneeze at either. I saw him in concert a few months ago in ATL and although I didn’t understand a word that was said all night (songs probably in French and maybe Wolof, and due to the majority Senegambian audience), it ranked as one of my best musical experiences ever. The whole vibe that night was pleasant. I have one or two of Baba Maal’s albums, but I wasn’t feeling them. Since y’all did him this week, it will force me to re-visit his stuff to see what all this fuss is about. My question over the years was actually “When y’all gonna do some Youssou?” I’d do a search from time to time and couldn’t believe when I kept seeing “No pages matched… ” I thought, surely this is a mistake or that you would eventually get to him. Surely.

Youssou’s my second favorite artist from Africa and in my top 5 of all musicians. I love “Egypt.” Most of the songs on there have that orchestra sound and exhibit, as Mtume mentioned, “strength and grace, power and calmness.” I think Youssou even won a Grammy for this album (Although P.E. begged the question some time back: “Who gives a F about a g damn Grammy?!). His albums “Nothing’s In Vain” and “Joko” are nothing to sneeze at either. I saw him in concert a few months ago in ATL and although I didn’t understand a word that was said all night (songs probably in French and maybe Wolof, and due to the majority Senegambian audience), it ranked as one of my best musical experiences ever. The whole vibe that night was pleasant.

I have one or two of Baba Maal’s albums, but I wasn’t feeling them. Since y’all did him this week, it will force me to re-visit his stuff to see what all this fuss is about.

]]> by: rich http://www.kalamu.com/bol/2008/03/31/baaba-maal-featuring-ernest-raglin-%e2%80%9ckoni%e2%80%9d/#comment-50347 Mon, 31 Mar 2008 21:23:17 -0500 http://www.kalamu.com/bol/2008/03/31/baaba-maal-featuring-ernest-raglin-%e2%80%9ckoni%e2%80%9d/#comment-50347 <p>Both Maal and N'Dour are stellar live performers and important figures in tuning the rest of the world into the richness and depth of senegalese music. I love both artists but, funnily enough, sometimes their international releases can leave me a little underwhelmed, mainly due to the addition of &quot;slick&quot; production values that seem to drain some of the vitality and energy from the music, I think the intriguing thing about listening to Baobab, or fellow compatriot Cheikh Lo, is in hearing the cuban and afro-caribbean sounds returning home and finding new expression</p><p><b><font color="#ffffff"><span style="background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; kalamu sez&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></font></b> </p><p>ok, my man, you have peeped part of the whole card for next week. all i got to say right now is what happens if you get cuba, brazil, james brown &amp; senegal together... word&mdash;don't miss next week!</p><p><b>&mdash;kalamu</b></p><p><br /> &nbsp; </p> Both Maal and N’Dour are stellar live performers and important figures in tuning the rest of the world into the richness and depth of senegalese music. I love both artists but, funnily enough, sometimes their international releases can leave me a little underwhelmed, mainly due to the addition of "slick" production values that seem to drain some of the vitality and energy from the music, I think the intriguing thing about listening to Baobab, or fellow compatriot Cheikh Lo, is in hearing the cuban and afro-caribbean sounds returning home and finding new expression

            kalamu sez           

ok, my man, you have peeped part of the whole card for next week. all i got to say right now is what happens if you get cuba, brazil, james brown & senegal together… word—don’t miss next week!

—kalamu

 

]]>