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Selling Tickets
Youssou N'Dour - Dakar-Kingston
 Senegalese superstar Youssou N'Dour is set to impress with his latest release, Dakar-Kingston, a magnificent album recorded in Jamaica with musicians who played with the reggae great, Bob Marley. The album combines reggae rhythms and mbalax, the national popular dance music of Senegal. N'Dour sings in English, Wolof and French and the tracks on the album present an innovative mix of N'Dour's musical heritage, reggae, rap and gospel. The album contains 13 tracks, some of which are N'Dour classics revamped with a reggae rhythm, ensuring that songs like "Africa, Dream Again" in collaboration with Nigerian-German singer-songwriter Ayo, "Do not Walk Away" with reggae band Morgan Heritage or "Bamba" will appeal to dedicated fans of the "King of Mbalax".
In a recent interview with Paola Genone in the French weekly news magazine L'Express, N'Dour reveals that he discovered reggae in the streets of Dakar in the early 1970s. Through the windows of houses one could hear the voices of Jimmy Cliff and Bob Marley coming from the radios within. He considers reggae music to be characterised by a "quiet strength" and identifies that he shares the same values as Marley; namely land, labour and the defence of human rights. However, he believes that it was living in Jamaica that helped him to strengthen the linkages between the musical genres featured in the album, which include melodies in Wolof and ballads in a rap-meets-reggae-meets-gospel style. Having recorded Dakar-Kingston in Jamaica with local musicians such as keyboardist Tyrone Downie, one of the former members of The Wailers, N'Dour learned that Marley sang gospel in a Baptist church, and also that reggae musicians use a form of percussion that originated from Africa, the Burrus.
When touring throughout Europe, Youssou N'Dour will also bring his new project de Dakar à Kingston to the Barbican in London with a show that explores and celebrates the relationship between Reggae and the Motherland, underlining their intertwined music history while delivering an exhilarating live experience with special guests Inna De Yard. The Barbican is already selling tickets at £20/25/30 and anticipates that the show will certainly sell-out.
Fans of the widely acclaimed performer shouldn't miss the film Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love (2008), written and directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, in which he stars as himself dealing with the recording of the deeply-spiritual album Egypt that sparked religious controversy amongst the African press but was enthusiastically received by Western audiences. Festival filmgoers have also warmly embraced the film since its release, with film tickets selling as fast as rock tickets or N'Dour concert tickets for some screenings!
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