Notes from Africa: A Musical Journey with Youssou n'Dour (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781789650471)

Notes from Africa traces the rise of popular music on the continent - beginning in the 1980s when the term 'world music' was coined as a marketing label and African musicians, notably Youssou N'Dour and his contemporaries, began to appear on the international stage. This book explains the musical styles that developed from the 1960s, when many African countries gained their independence. It covers developments in music and society in Senegal, in West Africa and around the continent during the post-independence years and right up to the present day. Jenny Cathcart, drawing on her personal experience in Senegal and her work alongside Youssou N'Dour, offers stories and portraits of daily life in Africa. The results are fresh insights into contemporary culture, religion and politics - as well as future collaborations and developments not only on the continent but in the African diaspora too.

Author: Jenny Cathcart
ISBN-10: 178965047X
ISBN-13: 9781789650471
Publisher: Unbound
Language: English
Published: 02/09/2021
Pages: 320
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.60lbs
Size: 7.70h x 5.10w x 1.10d

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 12/11/2020 pg. 1
Kirkus Reviews 01/01/2021

About the Author
When Jenny Cathcart travelled to Senegal in 1984 as a member of the BBC TV film crew that produced The Africans, she met with the rising star Youssou N'Dour. It was a fateful meeting which led to her abiding interest in African music and culture. When the term 'world music' was coined in London, Jenny was a producer on the pioneering TV series Rhythms of the World. In 1995, she proposed an African summer season on BBC Two and produced two of the programmes: the first ever African Prom and the documentary Africa's Rock 'n' Roll Years, a social and musical history of post-independence Africa. Ten years later, in 2005, she was series producer and director of BBC Two's six-part TV series The African Rock 'n' Roll Years. While working at Youssou N'Dour's head office in Dakar, she managed the artists Cheikh Lô, Orchestra Baobab, and Pape and Cheikh.