YOUSSOU N’DOUR’S “GREAT AFRICAN BALL” RETURNS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                                                                May 24, 2004

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“N’Dour has realized that his far-flung fans love his music as he plays it at home in Dakar, without pop-style ballads or English lyrics, and with songs running at curfew-defying, irresistibly danceable length.  These home-style balls are his best performances.”                     - The New York Times

Senegalese bandleader Youssou N’Dour’s collaborations with Western musicians include a famous duet with Peter Gabriel - “In Your Eyes”, from Gabriel’s 1986 album “So”, a song which marked a defining moment in modern rock, and another with Neneh Cherry - “7 Seconds”, from N’Dour’s album “The Guide”, which took the international pop world by storm as a single in 1994.

But in a recording career capped by his newest album - the lushly orchestral “Egypt ” (a paean to the peaceable face of Islam and Sufism in Senegal, just released on Nonesuch Records) - N'Dour's rootedness in Senegalese music and storytelling has remained the hallmark of his artistic personality.   For more than twenty-five years, N’Dour has led Africa’s most popular international touring band, the “Super Etoile” in the presentation of challenging Senegalese roots music which is infused with elements from beyond the world in which it first emerged yet has been ever faithful to its polyrhythmic origins and traditional ethos. 

He has subtly but profoundly revitalized African music in the process.

In a “getting back to basics” in New York once each year, N’Dour’s “Great African Ball”, an all-night dance party in the Senegalese style featuring the Super Etoile in the kind of unhinged performances typical of the surreal West African nightclubs.  N'Dour's legion of New York African patrons becomes, for one night, his co-star, their celebratory verve finding expression in an extraordinary community spectacle.

This year, N’Dour’s Great African Ball moves to the storied Roseland Ballroom, 239 West 52^nd Street, on the evening of July 9, from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m., and promises to be the biggest and liveliest ever.  

Tickets through www.ticketmaster.com.  

www.greatafricanball.wheresthe1.com                                                                   

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