Search - Alioune Kasse :: Exsina

Singer Alioune Kassé's family has long roots in Senegalese music, with his father Ibra Kassé at the helm of the once-dubbed Star Band of Senegal (which morphed into Orchestra Number One de Senegal) since its founding in 1960. It's no wonder, then, that Alioune's chosen to ply the international trade in synth-heavy Senegalese-based pop. Despite the flourishes of keyboards and smooth-jazz tinged sax work, Exsina has a stripped-down feel, with Kassé's voice washing into guitar strums and hand percussion beyond the keyboards--which form a distracting barrier at times. In contrast to the mbalax rhythms that make Y'oussou N'Dour's best music rhythmically energized, Kassé elects the leumbeul, a dance beat that sounds more waltz-time oriented (and indeed inspires Kassé to describe his music as African waltz). There isn't much percussive or harmonic-melodic edge to Kassé's songs, but each is sung in a clear, arching style that meshes well with the surrounding pop elements. --Andrew Bartlett