Track Listing

1. Lam Tooro
2. Loodo
3. Muudo Hormo
4. Salminanam
5. Maacina Tooro
6. Djam Leelii
7. Bibbe Leydy
8. Setulam
9. Kettodee
10. Ko Wone Mayo
11. Daande Lenol
12. Taara

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12820 in Music
• Released on: 1999-10-01
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

beautiful african rhythms and voices
I saw Baba Maal and Seck recently in London, left speechless, until the words "beautiful, moving, handsome, rhythm, explosive" came to me. Djam Leelii lacks the explosive power of sections of a maal seck concert: it is of the relativelty untouched unengineered school of African acousitc music. However what it lacks in power it makes up for in the nuances, discrete voices of Seck and Maal: this recoding preserves them so so well. Do yourself a favour and listen. Then catch his next concert in your country: Maal is a different man on stage.

Essential Buy
Senegalese acoustic blues at it's very best. Incredibly soulful music from the most soulful voice of Senegal. The two acoustic guitars of Baaba Maal and Mansour Seck play off each other, while Baaba Maal's voice sours above. The title track, 'Djam Leelii' is an all time personal favorite. A definite 'essential' album for anyone wishing to sample West African acoustic music.

Sheer brilliance
I came across this album on its release and had a copy on tape (oops!)... over the years the tape's got worn and i lost touch with my tape collection. Have just re-ordered it and listened through on Spotify. It is still an absolutely chillingly touching and beautiful album. As far as i am concerned the opening track is worth the cost of the album on itself. The interplay between the two acoustic guitars is so haunting - you will not forget it. Then behind these a simple, electric guitar, set up with a warm jazz tone, offers some harmonics. Of course, Maal's voice is utterly compelling. I dont know what he is saying (!), but this album is a perfect example of T S Eliot's maxim that music - like poetry - can communicate before it is understood. The rest of the album never lives up to this opener(for me anyway) - although Maacina Tooro is a more upbeat cousin and close second to Lam Tooro - and there is a hint of The Shadows in the opening riff of Sehilam (honest!). The final 3 tracks on the cd were not on my original version and they sound like 'demos' - but that's no bad thing either. All in all 70 minutes of why and how the best music is sometimes just 2 (damn good!) musicians and their guitars.