WOMAD II: Baaba Maal | reviews, news & interviews
WOMAD II: Baaba Maal
WOMAD II: Baaba Maal
Stepping out of Youssou N'Dour's shadow, Senegal's other great vocal star
Tuesday, 02 August 2011
Baaba Maal: an immediately recognisable vocal style derived from sub-Saharan tradition Courtesy Palm Pictures
Ten o'clock at night and the WOMAD air felt as hot as Dakar preparing for Baaba Maal. Sadly, given this year's hugely expanded audience, it was hard to see the stage unless you know how to glide to the front like a snake (which years of festival practice have taught me). Though I still missed close views of the opening three songs and the singer’s acoustic guitar accompaniment, it was impossible not to hear his voice, even adjusted to unusually soft and mellow soulful tones rather than the familiarly sharp, declamatory style that pierces the heart.
Ten o'clock at night and the WOMAD air felt as hot as Dakar preparing for Baaba Maal. Sadly, given this year's hugely expanded audience, it was hard to see the stage unless you know how to glide to the front like a snake (which years of festival practice have taught me). Though I still missed close views of the opening three songs and the singer’s acoustic guitar accompaniment, it was impossible not to hear his voice, even adjusted to unusually soft and mellow soulful tones rather than the familiarly sharp, declamatory style that pierces the heart.
Explore topics
Share this article
Subscribe to theartsdesk.com
Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
To take a subscription now simply click here.
And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?
more New music
Album: Primal Scream - Come Ahead
The Scream finally knock out the album we’ve been hoping for
Album: Alley Cat - The Widow Project
Enter a haunted factory and quiver in the shadows with a dubstep auteur
Bob Vylan, O2 Institute, Birmingham review - self-proclaimed most important band in the UK blow the roof off
Political punk-rappers see the weekend out with a bang
Album: Møster! - Springs
Norwegian supergroup merges jazz with rock’s outer edges
Music Reissues Weekly: Isaac Hayes - Hot Buttered Singles
Plugging a gap in the story of the soul giant
Album: Chuck Prophet - Wake the Dead
Rock'n'roll master dances past the graveyard with cumbia rhythms and quizzically cocked eyebrow
Album: Willie Nelson - Last Leaf on the Tree
The 91-year-old’s 153rd album is more than a farewell to arms – it’s a late-career classic
Album: The Cure - Songs of a Lost World
Sadness and finality have rarely felt so life-affirming
Album: Peter Perrett - The Cleansing
Depth, humour and bucket loads of cool from the former Only One
Book Extract: Where Songs Come From - The Lyrics and Origin Stories of 150 Solo and Carter USM Songs by Jim Bob
Jim Bob introduces a chapter from his new book, a combined autobiography, lyrical overview and love letter to London
Album: Pixies - The Night The Zombies Came
Quirky indie with a Halloween twist from legends of the genre Pixies
Music Reissues Weekly: Gerry and the Pacemakers - I Like It! Anthology 1963-1966
How the key Merseybeat hitmakers were left behind as pop moved on
Add comment