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BAM Howard Gilman Opera House
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Music | International, Senegal, US

Youssou N’Dour

Friday, Jun 5th 8:00pm

$25, 45, 55

Youssou N’Dour kicked off Muslim Voices: Arts & Ideas, performing songs that draw on his Islamic beliefs, African heritage, and global experience.

The evening started off with Quranic recitation, led by Imam Shamsi Ali (Indonesia-US), Issah Lamin Yusif (Ghana-US) and Mohammed Amanul Haque (Bangladesh-US), followed by the Ushaaq Ensemble performing the world premier of Salaam Suite by Iraqi-American composer/musician Amir El Saffar. The ensemble included Marina Alam, Dena El Saffar, and Dhafer Tawil, among others.

An undisputed giant of world music, Senegalese artist and humanitarian Youssou N’Dour has raised Senegal’s exuberant mbalax style to global stature. Introduced to American audiences on seminal albums such as Paul Simon’s Graceland and Peter Gabriel’s So, N’Dour continues to influence virtually every realm of the international music scene. His music serves to redefine current direction in world music, riding high on tumbling African rhythms and stratospheric vocals.

Youssou N'Dour and Muslim Voices film series are part of Diverse Voices at BAM presented by Time Warner

Artists
Born in Dakar, Senegal in October 1959, Youssou N’Dour is acknowledged as one of Africa’s most important musicians. Together with his band the Super Étoile, N’Dour offers Senegalese roots music with what the Los Angeles Times has called “a joyous precision”.

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Video: N'Dour on Muslim Voices

In this exclusive interview, Youssou N'Dour speaks to the broader importance of Muslim Voices: Arts & Ideas and the role of the arts in deepening tolerance and understanding.

Mbalax Decoded

Listen in on a sample of the track Shukran Bamba from Youssou N'Dour's 2004 Grammy award winning album, Egypt:

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And read on to learn more about the mbalax musical tradition.