The story of his music is also the story of Senegal. For music is the lifeblood of Senegalese society. From the griot’s songs of history and learning to the calling of the faithful to prayer in the mosques, music permeates all aspects of their culture.
Like Africa and Vedic Path before it, Baaba Maal contains a CD of music, a documentary DVD, an illustrated information booklet, and a detailed National Geographic map. Each component enhances our appreciation of the man and the musician. Just as importantly, they place his music into the cultural context of Senegal.
The music is magnificent. He lives up to his billing as being one of the most exciting musical talents in Africa. Not only does he integrate traditional Senegalese instruments with contemporary, the music seamlessly combines elements from all over the world. Pop, jazz, and reggae meld with African rhythms and sounds to create a true world music.
Baaba Maal may sing in his native tongue, but the listener loses little of the emotional impact. His voice is one more musical instrument being played in harmony with the rest of the band. Soaring from the bottom of the scale to its heights, he takes one on a roller coaster ride not easily forgotten.
The DVD is split into two parts. The first is a documentary that recreates Baaba Maal’s story. Acting as our guide, he retraces the path he took from his fisherman roots to his current position of international performer. Combined with the information booklet, this section of the disc gives the viewer insight into the cultural world of Senegal.
The concert footage included in the DVD allows one a tantalizing glimpse of Baaba Maal’s incredible power on stage. From frenetic up-tempo dance numbers to a slow ballad we see his complete range as a performer. African dance parties can continue for hours on end, some of that energy and exuberance are captured in these performance clips.
Baaba Maal is Palm World Voice’s third release in their initial six part series of explorations into World Music. Once again, they have created a package that takes one beneath the surface of the music to show the heart beating behind the exterior. These box sets are a wonderful addition to any music lover’s library.
Baaba Maal will be in stores everywhere on August 9th 2005.
Article comments
1 - Temple Stark
Temple Stark picked this for an Editors' Pick of the Week. Go ahead and find out why here.
2 - saajo bah
i am a fan of Baaba maal, and i would like to purchase this release as soon as possible, would you please tell me which store distributes it in the netherlands, thanks.
3 - Bob A. Booey
Baaba Maal? What about Bob A. Booey?
Saajo, try the one in Rotterdam next to the fountain and the telephone booth and the restaurants, OK?
That is all.
4 - saajo bah
finally, three of my friends who are also fans of baaba maal, ordered the dvd from velvet in leiden, the nederlands, after we got the four dvds, we were disappointed by the shallow information contained in this record, the dvd does not worth it the price, at all. baaba maal has a lot of stuff to be included in a dvd like this, a lot of video clips, a lot of interviews, live shows...etc, the extracts taken from some of his live concerts, were mainly from his live at the royal festival hall dvd, which make it boring, because that dvd i.e royal festival hall, was already known to all his fans... if only you could include some clips like yele, african woman, suka nayo, sidiki ETC..., then we shall get something to enjoy, but unfortunately, that did not happen, may be you want to curtail the artists popularity, who knows. if only we could get our money back, each of the four dvds costs us 41.95 euroes, can you imagine???? FANS LIKE US ARE REALLY DISAPPOINTED, BECAUSE WE CARE.
SAAJO, RASTA, TELIE AND JULIET.
5 - mohamadou
BAABA MAAL IS BIG.