Music review: Youssou N'Dour
Star rating: **** Venue: Usher Hall
But it transpired that N’Dour didn’t need any bells and whistles to get the crowd moving.
A guest Fulani dancer had a shamanic effect on the fans, and the aisles started to fill up with gyrating bodies, never to be empty again.
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Hide AdN’Dour is literally an elder statesman, having been appointed Senegal’s minister for culture a few years ago.
Clearly, he has delegation skills – he was happy to let his all-business band settle into their groove, with his percussionist in the role of MC, while he concentrated on putting heart and soul into his beautifully modulated beseeching vocals, whether he was backed by a smooth Afro pop sound, such as his international hit 7 Seconds and dignified anthem New Africa, or one of the invariably more satisfying choppy rhythmic dance numbers.