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Pierre-Yves Borgeaud. Youssou N'Dour: Return to Gorée. 2006. Senegal, United States, Europe. French and English. 108 min. ArtMattan Productions. $245.00
In this 2006 documentary, the internationally recognized Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour tours the world with the well-known Tunisian jazz pianist Moncef Genoud. N'Dour's road trip is inspired by a desire to trace what he terms "sa musique" (his music) across the Atlantic to the African diaspora. "Mes chansons son liées à la diaspora noire" (my songs are connected to the Black Diaspora), he notes in the opening scenes. By tracing links between music brought by slaves shackled in the underbellies of ships as they made their passage to the coasts of the America, Haiti, and Brazil, N'Dour seeks to understand how cultural influences, history, and languages imposed changes on "la musique qui est partie d'ici" (the music that left from here). "Here," for N'Dour, is the coast of...