At the end of this year, like at the end of every other year, lists will fill the pages of your favourite magazines, publications and supplements. These lists will feature the year-end round-ups from those practitioners who dish out ratings and reviews on a weekly basis. You will go away with ink on your fingers and the year in music in a neat, palatable, portable nutshell.
It's safe to say, however, that few of these lists will feature what is the year's most ecstatic, dramatic and uplifting album. Certain names always dominate these lists, and Youssou N'Dour is not one of them. The world- jazz-jive crowd will always find a place for him at the table, but unless he's shipping another Seven Seconds or some other crossover bunkum, the rest will look on with mild disdain.
On paper, his Egypt album doesn't appear likely to change this state of affairs. Songs in praise of saints and sages who hold sway in Senegal's Sufi communities, the album was recorded in Cairo and Dakar by N'Dour with Egyptian composer and arranger Fathy Salama and his orchestra over a number of years.
It's a good job, then, that records are not meant to be listened to on paper. Egypt is a joyous affair, an album which dazzles you with its musical dexterity and moves you with its devotion. It's intensely personal and spiritual, N'Dour bringing his Islamic beliefs to the fore like never before and finding an unique momentum as a result. While his Nonesuch label deserve applause for persisting with the release (Islamic religious albums were surely not top of the commercial pops with their Warner Music paymasters), it's N'Dour who's displaying the real courage.
Having misguidedly attempted crossovers before, there is nothing remotely Western about this release and it's all the better for it. Indeed, N'Dour's veneration of the Mouridist, Qadiriya and Tijani sides of Senegalese Sufism is in itself hugely political. In a world where Islam is viewed by many with the suspicion which comes with ignorance, N'Dour's songs celebrate sides of that faith most of us don't realise exist.
Egypt also changes N'Dour's standing. It certainly won't make him any more successful at home (he's already Dakar's Bono, Marley and Mandela rolled into one), and most N'Dour fans outside Africa will see little wrong with its mellow, passionate sounds and songs about Allah. The real change comes in the fact that N'Dour is prepared to stand up and speak about his faith.
The album was initially intended for release in 2001 before world events forced it onto a shelf. N'Dour's 2002 album Nothing in Vain demonstrated a spirit and a soul which previous Western releases had always sought to cloak, and perhaps it was the overwhelmingly positive reaction to this release that persuaded N'Dour that the time was right for Egypt.
Certainly, there was no going back after he cancelled a huge American tour in March 2003. The tour, intended to capitalise on the success of Nothing's in Vain, had taken more than 18 months to get the details right.
"It is my strong conviction that the responsibility for disarming Iraq should rest with the United Nations," he said at the time. "I question the United States government's intention to commence war in Iraq. I believe that coming to America at this time would be perceived in many parts of the world - rightly or wrongly - as support for this policy, and, as a consequence, it is inappropriate to perform in the US at this juncture."
The decision to pull the dates was not an easy one to make for someone choosing to sell records. For N'Dour, however, it was conscience rather than commerce which was behind that decision. It may also be his conscience which made the call to release Egypt and amplify his Sufi beliefs. It makes for an intriguing album, one which grows taller and more graceful with every listen. If the same can be said of the other albums which make the end-of- year lists, we'll be doing well.
Youssou N'Dour & The Fathy Salama Orchestra play Vicar St, Dublin on Sunday, October 17th
jimcarroll@irish-times.ie
