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Friday, June 17

The lyrical heart

Once I was asked why I had no interest in poetry; my reply was that I was saving poetry for my old age. I might have been speaking about African music, which I knew nothing about until this year. Now I often stumble across a delight from West African singers, most of whom have been well known for years to lovers of African music in the West -- and in particular France, which I've found has done much to promote and appreciate the musical treasures of former French African colonies.

Tonight in one-two fashion, thanks to YouTube's haphazard listing of singers it thinks might interest me, I discovered lilting songs by an Ivory Coast and Senegalese singer. It's as if songbirds decided to incarnate in them to uplift the human heart when it's sad. 

Dobet Gnahoré - "Palea"

     

Diogal Sakho - "Xarit Taffa"


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