Notes from Africa

December 11, 2020

Youssou N'Dour was one of the leading musicians in the burgeoning "world music" explosion of the 1980s. His solo recordings, along with appearances on discs with the likes of Peter Gabriel, Sting, and Neneh Cherry, established his bona fides and helped promote interest in recording artists from his native Senegal and across the African continent. In 2004, Rolling Stone declared that he was "perhaps the most famous singer alive" in Senegal. International liaison manager Cathcart (Hey You!) has worked with many African artists but most closely with N'Dour, and has had a firsthand view of the artist and his collaborators, from his earliest triumphs to the present. Her book is simultaneously an insider's look at N'Dour and his output as well as a history of Senegal, including an analysis of the current political climate (N'Dour had an unsuccessful run for president in 2012 and was later appointed minister for culture and tourism). VERDICT An enthusiastic and enlightening view of an entertaining artist and humanitarian and his environment.--Bill Baars, formerly with Lake Oswego P.L., OR

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2021
Of Afrobeat, mbalax, soukous, makossa, and other popular sounds emanating from West Africa. In 1984, Cathcart traveled to Senegal as part of a BBC TV crew, meeting the renowned artist (and, later, politician) Youssou N'Dour when he was ready to explode far beyond his native country and--thanks in part to friendships with Western pop musicians--influence the music of every continent. "I had been brought up in Ireland on Beethoven and the Beatles," writes the author, "but was thoroughly mesmerised by what Peter Gabriel called the 'liquid velvet voice, ' the scintillating sabar drums, the kaleidoscopic charm of Youssou's modern dance music." It's clear that Cathcart is a fan, but she has room in her affections for many other players around the continent, including Fela Kuti, Alpha Blondy, King Sunny Ade, and Adama Faye, "the Mozart of Senegal" who "attracted a new audience for Youssou's music, especially among young people and intellectuals." While N'Dour broke out easily, Blondy in particular had a harder time; positioned as Africa's first reggae star, the Ivorian singer was abandoned by Bob Marley's producer, which lent him a fiery determination to make it big. Cathcart, who includes a generous selection of color photos, has a decent grasp of the various threads that go into African--and particularly West African--music, but the writing is often clunky ("I was not alone in feeling apprehensive about the outcome") and clich�d ("Following a month of speculation, he finally threw his hat into the political arena"). The author also seems unconcerned with the desideratum in music writing of telling readers what the music actually sounds like. In that vein, Mark Hudson's 1998 novel The Music in My Head is a better treatment; though its players are often composites, it gets more quickly and memorably to the feel of an influential musical tradition. A tepid look at the red-hot West African pop scenes of the 1980s.

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