Mbalax is a Senegalese blend of African, Caribbean and pop rhythms; take a base of griot percussion, praise-music, and story-telling, and add western guitars and keyboards. In large part, Youssou N’Dour and his relentless touring made mbalax known outside of Africa. Since the 1980’s, the Senegalese singer and composer has mixed African sounds with wide-ranging other influences. On his latest effort “Egypt,” traditional musicians from Senegal's capital of Dakar and musicians from Cairo come together for a sound quite unlike his previous “pop” records. Something of a modern griot himself, N’Dour feels that now is a particularly important time for greater tolerance of the Islamic religion, and the new album (actually titled in Arabic, “Allah,”) is a celebration of the Sufi mystical tradition of Islam. On this edition of New Sounds, Youssou N’Dour introduces selections from the pan-African and pan-Islamic CD.

PROGRAM #2304 Youssou N'Dour's "Egypt" (Thurs. 7/08/2004)

ARTIST(S)	RECORDING	CUT(S)	SOURCE
Youssou N'Dour	Egypt	Tijaniyya [5:20] Allah [5:00]	Nonesuch #79694** www.nonesuch.com*
Om Kalsoum	El Hob Kollo	Excerpt [3:00]	Sono Cairo 22132, #127. Stores and web sources have many Om Kalsoum (or Kalthoum) records. This one is hard to find, but try trehanti@greekmus.demon.co.uk An extensive fan page is at http://almashriq.hiof.no/egypt
Youssou N'Dour	Egypt	Shukran Bamba [5:30] Baay Niasse [5:30] Touba-Daru Salaam [6:00]	See above.
Simon Shaheen	The Music of Mohamed Abdel Wahab	Sittel Habayeb, excerpt [2:00]	Axiom/Mango #539865 www.simon-shaheen.com

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