Nonesuch Releases Youssou N'Dour's Egypt

06/19/2004 02:58PM

New York, USA – On his latest release, Egypt, Youssou N'Dour combines his native Senegalese traditions with Egyptian and Arabic sounds in this musical exploration of Islamic Sufism. To promote the new album, a North American tour begins June 27.

While N'Dour's international releases have always combined Senegalese musical traditions with outside sources of inspiration, Egypt (Nonesuch Records), takes a fresh approach. On this album, the rhythms and melodies of Senegal drive arrangements featuring Egyptian and Arabian orchestral sounds. Featuring traditional musicians in Dakar and in Cairo, Egypt is N'Dour's lyrical celebration of Senegal's Muslim mystical culture of Sufism.

Egypt's lyrics demonstrate a distinctly Senegalese way of Islam, and of Sufi thought and practice, with references to venerated caliphs, saints, and sages.

Muslim life in Senegal is centered in the country's Sufi communities, which have adapted to the modern rhythms of post-independence Africa. N'Dour, who sought to explore the links between his homeland's religious beliefs and that of Muslims in Egypt and the Middle East, has explained that Egypt is an album that "praises the tolerance of my religion"-a religion that in recent times has come to be both misunderstood and misinterpreted by commentators and adherents alike.

North American tour:

Buy Egypt

World Music Central
http://www.worldmusiccentral.org/article.php/20040619145850411