Youssou N´Dour - Egypt - 2004

 

Egypt has been the most ambitious and controversial project of Youssou N´Dour. If he had so far fused African rhythms with Western melodies, on this album he embarks on a journey through Senegal's Sufi tradition accompanied by the Egyptian and Arabic orchestral arrangements of the Fathly Salama orchestra. Egypt is a song to the tolerance of Senegalese Islam and to the musical encounter between black Africa and the Middle East.

Egypt's repertoire sounds thanks to the combination of Senegalese percussion and Egyptian instruments (magruna, doholla, sagat, kawala) and Arabs (rababa, oud). The string arrangements sublimate some songs, already beautiful in themselves. The result is superb. From the initial greeting of "Allah" to the farewell "Touba – Daru Salaam", the musical pilgrimage that Youssou N'Dour proposes between Dakar and Cairo demonstrates that the evolution of popular music, which has its roots in the villages, He does not understand globalization or invasions but rather dialogue and respect, emphasizing over and over again the importance of what he loves: a humanist Islam.

As the quote from Mamadou Dia, which closes the album's libretto, points out: "Love, in Islam, is not intellectual but visceral."

Egypt was a Grammy Award in 2005 for "Best Contemporary World Music Album".

Tracks list:

01. Allah

02. Shukran Bamba

03. Mahdiyu Laye

04. Tijaniyya

05. Baay Niasse

06. Bamba The Poet

07. Cheikh Ibra Fall

08. Touba - Daru Salaam