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Youssou N’Dour : Le grand bal at Bercy
Youssou brings Dakar to Paris
Paris
12/10/2001 -
Youssou N’Dour has enjoyed a successful international career, transporting his seductive 'world' fusion - based on m'balax et other traditional Senegalese rhythms - to the West. But, up until now, you had to go to Dakar if you wanted to hear the more popular dance-oriented numbers in Youssou's repertoire. Taking to the stage at his own private club, Le Thiossane, Senegal's m'balax king takes to the stage for hours, getting audiences dancing right through until the early hours. This Saturday Youssou and his group "recreate Le Thiossane in Paris,", bringing their infectious dance rhythms to Bercy Stadium for the second time. The show, which kicks off at 11pm, will also feature a selection of special guest artists including Koffi Olomidé, who brought the "grand bal" concept to Bercy himself last year.
RFI: So, Youssou, it's interesting to see you back here playing Bercy again. You performed here back in '85, of course, when Jacques Higelin put on his mega-show but that didn't exactly turn out as well as planned …
Youssou N'Dour: Well, personally I don't feel things were as bad as all that. I thought the whole thing was amazing because Higelin really pulled out all the stops to transform the space into something different. He really transported Africa right here into the heart of Bercy – there was this expanse of desert, with real horses and incredible music just as if you were at the theatre ... I was really happy to be involved with the project, to be up on stage with Mory Kanté and Jacques Higelin. There was this really incredible atmosphere! And, musically speaking, I wouldn't say there were any problems at all, even if we did only end up performing for two weeks instead of three as planned. I played at Bercy again after that with Peter Gabriel and then I came back again as part of two different Amnesty tours. And then, of course, I was here with my own show last year, so I think it's fair to say I'm pretty familiar with this venue!
I'd originally planned to perform at Le Zénith but it turned out that Bercy was the only venue available for the dates we had lined up. So I've really taken it on board as a new challenge, you know, trying to recreate exactly the same atmosphere as at Le Thiossane, my club in Dakar, here in the heart of Europe. What we're doing here isn't really a 'concert' in the normal sense of the term. It's a big open-air dance or a "grand bal" as we say back home. People who're used to going to concerts that generally last two hours and not a minute more, may find the whole thing a bit long, in fact – we're used to playing anything up to three and a half or four hours! RFI: Isn't that actually physically exhausting for the musicians involved in the show?
Y N'D: You know, we've been playing together for around fifteen years or so now. We started out together performing in clubs and let me tell you, no show there ever went less than three hours. But then it's totally different from playing European-style concerts. People don't necessarily applaud in between songs. The whole thing's much more relaxed, in fact. You know, the drummer can stop playing and have a bit of a break while the percussionist comes up front with me. And then, back home, we really take time to warm up the audience and get them singing along ... Things are different back home in Dakar. If the show ends up going on for four hours, there's no problem, you know, it's not the end of the world! In Dakar we frequently play for four hours non-stop. But we play different shows for different venues – when I do a concert at the Daniel-Sorano Theatre in Dakar, for instance, I'd never play the same sort of set as I do at Le Thiossane. RFI: How are things going with your label, Jololi?
Y N'D: Well, things are going really well at a local level. We've signed a lot of artists who're selling really well back home. But things have been a lot slower taking off on the international market. You know how it is, it's always the same problem – we've got the talent and the equipment to produce the records but we're not so good when it comes to marketing them in the West. Take the compilation Da Hop, for instance, (released in Paris last year by Delabel/Virgin). It's a great compilation featuring contemporary hip hop from Dakar, but it just hasn't caught on in France the way it has back home in Senegal. So I think, understandably, we still feel a bit timid when it comes to releasing our stuff abroad... RFI: You've made some pretty major changes in your own career, recently. After working with Sony for the past eight years you recently quit and signed a new deal with Warner...
Y N'D: The thing that's a real priority for me right now is being able to produce my own albums. Up until now my contracts with record companies have always been limited to me as an artist. But things have changed now. Now I'm in charge of everything to do with the production side of things. I follow everything through from A to Z. I've also signed a license deal with Nonesuch, an American label owned by Warner. From now on, there's no way I'm going to go five or six years without releasing a new album. I can work a lot quicker than that, you know. RFI: So have you already started work on your next album?
Y N'D: Well, actually, it's just at the idea stage for the moment. I've come up with a few ideas for songs and I'm working on those right now. One thing's for sure, I've been experimenting with a much more acoustic sound. I've got this song with just a guitar and a djembé, for instance. But, as I said, things are still at the ideas stage for the moment – I'm not too sure where that will end up taking me. We'll see. I'll be starting the album in January next year. RFI: What about the unstable international situation right now? Are you concerned that it might have an adverse effect on African music?
Y N'D: No, artistically speaking, I actually feel pretty serene about what the future holds. Creativity, diversity and musical fusion go way beyond simplistic political discourse. Besides, people need music and artistic creativity even more in times of trouble. It's true that a number of projects have been put on hold right now, but in terms of cultural wealth and diversity, we've got as much to offer as ever, so no I'm not worried about that aspect of things. Actually I'm heading out to the States right after Bercy to do a three-week tour!
Youssou N'Dour: Well, personally I don't feel things were as bad as all that. I thought the whole thing was amazing because Higelin really pulled out all the stops to transform the space into something different. He really transported Africa right here into the heart of Bercy – there was this expanse of desert, with real horses and incredible music just as if you were at the theatre ... I was really happy to be involved with the project, to be up on stage with Mory Kanté and Jacques Higelin. There was this really incredible atmosphere! And, musically speaking, I wouldn't say there were any problems at all, even if we did only end up performing for two weeks instead of three as planned. I played at Bercy again after that with Peter Gabriel and then I came back again as part of two different Amnesty tours. And then, of course, I was here with my own show last year, so I think it's fair to say I'm pretty familiar with this venue!
I'd originally planned to perform at Le Zénith but it turned out that Bercy was the only venue available for the dates we had lined up. So I've really taken it on board as a new challenge, you know, trying to recreate exactly the same atmosphere as at Le Thiossane, my club in Dakar, here in the heart of Europe. What we're doing here isn't really a 'concert' in the normal sense of the term. It's a big open-air dance or a "grand bal" as we say back home. People who're used to going to concerts that generally last two hours and not a minute more, may find the whole thing a bit long, in fact – we're used to playing anything up to three and a half or four hours! RFI: Isn't that actually physically exhausting for the musicians involved in the show?
Y N'D: You know, we've been playing together for around fifteen years or so now. We started out together performing in clubs and let me tell you, no show there ever went less than three hours. But then it's totally different from playing European-style concerts. People don't necessarily applaud in between songs. The whole thing's much more relaxed, in fact. You know, the drummer can stop playing and have a bit of a break while the percussionist comes up front with me. And then, back home, we really take time to warm up the audience and get them singing along ... Things are different back home in Dakar. If the show ends up going on for four hours, there's no problem, you know, it's not the end of the world! In Dakar we frequently play for four hours non-stop. But we play different shows for different venues – when I do a concert at the Daniel-Sorano Theatre in Dakar, for instance, I'd never play the same sort of set as I do at Le Thiossane. RFI: How are things going with your label, Jololi?
Y N'D: Well, things are going really well at a local level. We've signed a lot of artists who're selling really well back home. But things have been a lot slower taking off on the international market. You know how it is, it's always the same problem – we've got the talent and the equipment to produce the records but we're not so good when it comes to marketing them in the West. Take the compilation Da Hop, for instance, (released in Paris last year by Delabel/Virgin). It's a great compilation featuring contemporary hip hop from Dakar, but it just hasn't caught on in France the way it has back home in Senegal. So I think, understandably, we still feel a bit timid when it comes to releasing our stuff abroad... RFI: You've made some pretty major changes in your own career, recently. After working with Sony for the past eight years you recently quit and signed a new deal with Warner...
Y N'D: The thing that's a real priority for me right now is being able to produce my own albums. Up until now my contracts with record companies have always been limited to me as an artist. But things have changed now. Now I'm in charge of everything to do with the production side of things. I follow everything through from A to Z. I've also signed a license deal with Nonesuch, an American label owned by Warner. From now on, there's no way I'm going to go five or six years without releasing a new album. I can work a lot quicker than that, you know. RFI: So have you already started work on your next album?
Y N'D: Well, actually, it's just at the idea stage for the moment. I've come up with a few ideas for songs and I'm working on those right now. One thing's for sure, I've been experimenting with a much more acoustic sound. I've got this song with just a guitar and a djembé, for instance. But, as I said, things are still at the ideas stage for the moment – I'm not too sure where that will end up taking me. We'll see. I'll be starting the album in January next year. RFI: What about the unstable international situation right now? Are you concerned that it might have an adverse effect on African music?
Y N'D: No, artistically speaking, I actually feel pretty serene about what the future holds. Creativity, diversity and musical fusion go way beyond simplistic political discourse. Besides, people need music and artistic creativity even more in times of trouble. It's true that a number of projects have been put on hold right now, but in terms of cultural wealth and diversity, we've got as much to offer as ever, so no I'm not worried about that aspect of things. Actually I'm heading out to the States right after Bercy to do a three-week tour!
RFI: For the past few years you've made it clear that you'd like to spend as much of your time in Dakar as possible. Have you managed to do that and still hold down your busy career?
Well, I'm really based in Dakar these days and I only leave home when I go off on tour. I've really created a great working environment for myself there, with the studio where I spend a lot of time working on my own albums and producing other stuff that comes out on Jololi. And then there's my club where I'm lucky enough to have a really loyal following of fans. It's thanks to them that I still have such a passion for playing urban African music. I really feel as if I have a duty to push back new borders with my music and, as such, I don't have the right to go and set myself up somewhere else. And then, of course, I've got plenty of personal reasons for staying at home – I've got six children aged between six months and 17 and they're the most important thing in my life right now!
Bertrand Dicale
Translation : Julie Street
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