Amazon.comRecorded live in a ceremony in Dakar, Senegal, the music on this CD reveals the rhythmic Wolof roots of superstars like Baaba Maal. With roots in both West Africa and the Arab world, this music evokes a very different feeling from much of its musical milieu. A set of tuned drums called tabala is used in both ritualistic and social events, and as recorded here, accompanied by a group of singers, the drums elicit a compelling sense of ancient history and musical urgency. As with all of the recordings from Village Pulse (made by a couple of drummers from the U.S. Northwest), the sound quality is both technically good and aurally immediate. --Louis Gibson