PRESS RELEASE FOR: IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 12, 2002 VIVIANE N'DOUR & THE JOLOF BAND - US TOUR JULY 3 - 14, 2002 (Visit http://www.africafest.com for more information and for the purchase of tickets for this first U.S. tour of one of Africa's finest singers.) AFRICAFEST, is proud to announce the U.S. Tour of Africa's latest superstar, sensational Diva from Senegal, Viviane N'Dour (Youssou N'Dour's sister-in-law) & the Jolof Band. The tour will pass through several cities (Rhode Island, New York, Washington DC, Raleigh, Atlanta, Houston, Chicago) for unprecedented evenings of ambiance. Known as the background vocalist in the Super Etoile Band of Youssou N'Dour for several years where she quickly became one of the key members of the group, traveling all over the world with Youssou N'Dour. After performing songs like 'Seven Seconds' live on stage with Youssou, the fans became more interested in her voice and wanted to hear more from her. As the pressure grew she decided to work on her first album. She took her time to come up with something fresh. Her first single "SAMA NENEH" (ENTRE NOUS 1999) immediately caught the entire country of Senegal by storm. In a matter of days, the song was on the lips of everybody. Her soulful singing style and the blend of traditional and modern vocals and music styles placed her on top of the charts. After the release of her second album (NATURE 2000), she definitely confirmed her status as one of the leading new artists in Africa. The positive reactions from all over the West African sub-region were powerful encouragement for her to forge ahead. The U.K. based magazine, URBAN BEATS recently praised Viviane as such: "Amongst the newest generation, one star is shining very bright in the skies of Senegal. VIVIANE N'DOUR (Youssou's sister-in-law) is a sensation. She has captured the public imagination across all ages. Selling out shows and enveloping her audiences with a rich, sensuous voice that has to be heard to be believed." Viviane was born in Mbour, a big cultural town, 80 km far from Dakar. At a very early age she started singing with a small band, then went on to join another band that performed in all the major hotels and resorts in Mbour. In 1993, she joined the 'Super Etoile' of Youssou Ndour, and sang on some of Ndour's biggest tracks. Viviane is one of the biggest selling artists in Senegal today! She sings about love, relationship, women's rights and social issues. The young 'Diva', a role model to many young women and roundly admired by many generations she has managed to reach with her music. In 2001, Viviane formed her own group: The 'Jolof Band' and put out her first live album (LE SHOW 2001) with more percussive rhythms and melodies. Her latest album, (TERE NELAW 2002 - to be released June 15) finds Viviane expanding her musical reach to encompass the entire Black world. With rhythms drawing from the Jazz and R&B world to her singing duets with the well known reggae great, Frankie Paul, has solidified her natural talent to absorb and synthesize the entire spectrum of musical genres of the African diaspora while still firmly centered in Senegal's mbalax music. Welcome to a new page in African music! VISIT http://www.africafest.com FOR DETAILS AND TICKETS. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or 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] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~