“Don’t forget where you belong, don’t cut yourselves off”
Youssou N’ Dour used to remind his compatriots living far away from home, that even if they had to move elsewhere, they could always come back to Senegal.
His music has travelled across the world. The boy from Medina who started singing at the age of 12, became the superstar of Senegal and concurred France and the rest of Europe. Through his music, mainly percussion and traditional rhythms, which is influenced by the Cuban music, jazz and rap, Youssou N’ Dour leaves his own heritage linked with the world music scene.
His lyrics are allegorical, full of messages, images and proverbs, while his voice captivates us from the very first moment. He has collaborated with many artists, such as Peter Gabriel, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Neneh Cherry. He has even sung Louis Aragon - Georges Brassens.
Youssou N’ Dour, a major figure of the African music and according to the “Time” one of the 100 people with the greatest influence globally, will be in Greece on April 22 at the Velodrome OAKA to give a concert for the purposes of the Greek Action in Africa.
Lida Kotzia 15 April 2009
Date
22 April 2009Starting time
21:30Location
OAKAReviews
Youssou N’Dour, the famous African musician from Dakar gave a concert in Athens to support the Greek Action in Africa and the construction of an orphanage that will host 1,000 children who lost their parents due to the scourge of AIDS.
I was present at his first appearance in our country, a concert for the purposes of the International Amnesty in 1988 and I was impressed. A lot has changed since then though. His career has earned a big reputation not only within Senegal, but also at a world scale and with his voice he “embraced” the African history.
Time is almost 21.30 and after the short, fortunately, speeches of the representative of the Greek Action in Africa and the Mayor of Amaroussion, Youssou N’Dour comes on stage together with his 12-people band.
"Are you ready to sing with me?”
The sound of the first notes and the music carry us away to the rhythm of “mbalax”, the Senegal music as it is known in the language of Wolof. People approach the podium, dance and sing. From the tiers of the stadium they jump to the arena to come close to the singer. Africans and Greeks together, for about two hours, the duration of the concert.
“Africa is not only war, poverty and AIDS. Africa is happy…”
Youssou N’Dour came as close as he could to his audience. He even sat cross-legged with it, like a company with a guitar. The sound did not help him, neither Eleni Peta who played the role of Neneh Cherry. The stadium was huge and empty. However he managed to bring together the memories of the past with the expectations of the future conveying political messages with his music. An amazing dancer of the group made a great impression perfectly harmonized with the music’s beat. Returning for the encore Youssou N’Dour played at least for 20 minutes and when he finally left the stage, people remained at their seats applauding and calling him back, until the lights of the stadium were switched on.
Renata Dikeopoulou 23 April 2009
Reviews
Youssou N’Dour, the famous African musician from Dakar gave a concert in Athens to support the Greek Action in Africa and the construction of an orphanage that will host 1,000 children who lost their parents due to the scourge of AIDS.
I was present at his first appearance in our country, a concert for the purposes of the International Amnesty in 1988 and I was impressed. A lot has changed since then though. His career has earned a big reputation not only within Senegal, but also at a world scale and with his voice he “embraced” the African history.
Time is almost 21.30 and after the short, fortunately, speeches of the representative of the Greek Action in Africa and the Mayor of Amaroussion, Youssou N’Dour comes on stage together with his 12-people band.
"Are you ready to sing with me?”
The sound of the first notes and the music carry us away to the rhythm of “mbalax”, the Senegal music as it is known in the language of Wolof. People approach the podium, dance and sing. From the tiers of the stadium they jump to the arena to come close to the singer. Africans and Greeks together, for about two hours, the duration of the concert.
“Africa is not only war, poverty and AIDS. Africa is happy…”
Youssou N’Dour came as close as he could to his audience. He even sat cross-legged with it, like a company with a guitar. The sound did not help him, neither Eleni Peta who played the role of Neneh Cherry. The stadium was huge and empty. However he managed to bring together the memories of the past with the expectations of the future conveying political messages with his music. An amazing dancer of the group made a great impression perfectly harmonized with the music’s beat. Returning for the encore Youssou N’Dour played at least for 20 minutes and when he finally left the stage, people remained at their seats applauding and calling him back, until the lights of the stadium were switched on.
Renata Dikeopoulou 23 April 2009
