Madiba: As it concerns Gambian music, I am way out in no man's land. I have neither heard of Viviane Ndour nor Falou Dieng. But after all the hype on the L by the likes of brother Njok Jeng of London and the Rhode Island crew, I have to replace my soccer shoes with my Mbalax ones to boogie to some of these tracks. The last time I raided Prince Obrien's archives and downloaded 'Gambia' by Thione Secka, chills ran down my spine as I listened to him sing about Serrekunda, Bakau, Banjul etc etc. I also downloaded some old school Super Etoile which sounded more like 'Cubanismo' music. Does anyone remember listening to a lot of this music on Radio Syd in the late 70's and early 80s? I believe we called it Pachanga music. How did this shape the Mbalax music we have today? Overall, Senegambian musicians have done well. It is not uncommon to catch a clip of Baba Maal's voice on a commercial on TV, or to hear musical collaborations between folks that play the Kora and a group like the Afro-Celtics. Senegambian music has hit the big time these days. Yus <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>> To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>