Baaba Maal

Where: UCLA Royce Hall When: Saturday, 8 p.m. Price: $26-$56; UCLA Students $15. Contact: (310) 825-2101

No continent has parented more musical children than Africa, and its progeny were out in force on Father's Day at the Hollywood Bowl. Never mind that many of these creative offspring — reggae, blues, gospel, beat-happy electronica — make their primary homes in distant parts of the planet. Sunday's ebullient concert, headlined by the veteran Senegalese sonic nomad Baaba Maal, reminded us that in today's digitalized global village of file-sharing and YouTube, African music lives everywhere.

No continent has parented more musical children than Africa, and its progeny were out in force on Father's Day at the Hollywood Bowl. Never mind that many of these creative offspring — reggae, blues, gospel, beat-happy electronica — make their primary homes in distant parts of the planet. Sunday's ebullient concert, headlined by the veteran Senegalese sonic nomad Baaba Maal, reminded us that in today's digitalized global village of file-sharing and YouTube, African music lives everywhere.

Where: UCLA Royce Hall When: Saturday, 8 p.m. Price: $26-$56; UCLA Students $15. Contact: (310) 825-2101

The magic of Senegal's versatile Baaba Maal was crackling all over the place Sunday at the Hollywood Bowl. Maal has been a dynamic performer for more than a decade, and his appearances are always memorable occasions. But Sunday's concert, titled "African Funk," was so filled with visual color and visceral, body-moving rhythms that one wished the entire evening had been devoted to this consummate artist. That's not quite the way it happened, however.

Musical inspiration can strike Baaba Maal in any place, at any time. It might happen on the Paris Metro, where he sometimes hears echoes of African drum beats in the rumbling of the train cars. Or he could be in his native environs, on the banks of the Senegal River, listening for hidden melodies in the sound of the wind and the rain. "Just silently in my head I sing songs, on the top of rhythm," said the 56-year-old vocalist-guitarist. For much of his adult life, Maal, who'll perform Saturday at UCLA's Royce Hall, has been a man in motion.

Baaba Maal's appearance at the Hollywood Bowl last summer was a tour de force--a take-no-prisoners extravaganza that captivated his ecstatic listeners. The veteran Senegalese singer-songwriter, one of the most prominent of all African artists, led a 12-piece ensemble through a brilliantly energetic presentation, filled with visual color and body-moving rhythms. That's not exactly what will be happening Thursday, however, when Maal returns to the Southland for a concert at UCLA's Royce Hall.

Nigerian-born deejay Nnamdi spins lush African, Brazilian, Latin and Indian Sufi rhythms on his program, "Afro-Dicia," Saturday afternoons from 3 to 5 on KPFK (90.7 FM). Founder of the Green Card Music label, Nnamdi is playing host at the World Music Festival Series at USC through Saturday--a free event showcasing live bands from such spots as Japan, Ireland and Morocco in two daily shows. Herewith, his latest mix. (BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC) Playlist 1.

Robert HILBURN'S "Are You Ready to Rock?!" [May 22] brought back a flood of wonderful memories of the 12 years I lived and worked as a singer and recording artist in London. Noel Gallagher was right: England's rain, cold and island isolation have long fostered a culture of introspection and guitarists laboring away at their often-lonely craft. I would add that Britain's welfare system plays an enormous role in supporting artists while they learn, work and grow. Artists can live, with their rent or even mortgage paid plus a small biweekly stipend that barely covers the bills.

Baaba Maal's show at the House of Blues Wednesday was a triumph of small steps. The Senegalese singer struggled all night to integrate seemingly disjointed musical and performance elements into a cohesive whole, and he ultimately succeeded. Maal shares the striking Islamic-influenced vocal sound of his countryman Youssou N'Dour and Mali's Salif Keita, and his 11-piece band delivered complexly structured music built on percussion and keyboard accents.

Musical inspiration can strike Baaba Maal in any place, at any time. It might happen on the Paris Metro, where he sometimes hears echoes of African drum beats in the rumbling of the train cars. Or he could be in his native environs, on the banks of the Senegal River, listening for hidden melodies in the sound of the wind and the rain. "Just silently in my head I sing songs, on the top of rhythm," said the 56-year-old vocalist-guitarist. For much of his adult life, Maal, who'll perform Saturday at UCLA's Royce Hall, has been a man in motion.

Robert HILBURN'S "Are You Ready to Rock?!" [May 22] brought back a flood of wonderful memories of the 12 years I lived and worked as a singer and recording artist in London. Noel Gallagher was right: England's rain, cold and island isolation have long fostered a culture of introspection and guitarists laboring away at their often-lonely craft. I would add that Britain's welfare system plays an enormous role in supporting artists while they learn, work and grow. Artists can live, with their rent or even mortgage paid plus a small biweekly stipend that barely covers the bills.

Baaba Maal was hoping to create an intimate, acoustic setting for his concert at UCLA's Royce Hall on Thursday. Touring in support of his latest album, "Missing You," which was recorded in outdoor settings in his native Senegal, he arrived with a small ensemble of guitars, percussion, hoddu (a small, four-stringed instrument), acoustic bass and guitar (courtesy of his longtime musical companion, Mansour Seck).

Baaba Maal's appearance at the Hollywood Bowl last summer was a tour de force--a take-no-prisoners extravaganza that captivated his ecstatic listeners. The veteran Senegalese singer-songwriter, one of the most prominent of all African artists, led a 12-piece ensemble through a brilliantly energetic presentation, filled with visual color and body-moving rhythms. That's not exactly what will be happening Thursday, however, when Maal returns to the Southland for a concert at UCLA's Royce Hall.

The magic of Senegal's versatile Baaba Maal was crackling all over the place Sunday at the Hollywood Bowl. Maal has been a dynamic performer for more than a decade, and his appearances are always memorable occasions. But Sunday's concert, titled "African Funk," was so filled with visual color and visceral, body-moving rhythms that one wished the entire evening had been devoted to this consummate artist. That's not quite the way it happened, however.

South African singer-songwriter Miriam Makeba will kick off the 2001-2002 World Stages series, co-sponsored by the Philharmonic Society of Orange County and the Irvine Barclay Theatre. The author, political activist and United Nations ambassador will open the four-concert series at 8 p.m. Oct. 25 at the Irvine theater, 4242 Campus Drive. Makeba was the first African recording artist to win a Grammy Award, in 1965, and, in 1967, the first to have a worldwide top-10 hit, "Pata Pata."

The blending of traditional African musical elements with the forms and procedures of Western pop can be tricky. But don't tell Baaba Maal, who not only manages to make the combination work but does it with utterly irresistible spirit and enthusiasm. At the Veterans Wadsworth Theatre on Friday, Maal and his 12 players presented a nonstop two-hour program of music and dance that had a capacity crowd on its feet and dancing for a good part of the show.

'Firin' in Fouta," the 1994 album from Senegal's Baaba Maal, was a powerful musical document, a definitive indication of African music's capacity to interface with the most topical Western pop styles. The singer's new follow-up, "Nomad Soul," also explores African/pop connections, in tracks that range from gentle, acoustic ballads and surging percussive dance numbers to duets with reggae star Luciano and Sinead O'Connor's back-up singers, the Screaming Orphans.

Nigerian-born deejay Nnamdi spins lush African, Brazilian, Latin and Indian Sufi rhythms on his program, "Afro-Dicia," Saturday afternoons from 3 to 5 on KPFK (90.7 FM). Founder of the Green Card Music label, Nnamdi is playing host at the World Music Festival Series at USC through Saturday--a free event showcasing live bands from such spots as Japan, Ireland and Morocco in two daily shows. Herewith, his latest mix. (BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC) Playlist 1.

'Firin' in Fouta," the 1994 album from Senegal's Baaba Maal, was a powerful musical document, a definitive indication of African music's capacity to interface with the most topical Western pop styles. The singer's new follow-up, "Nomad Soul," also explores African/pop connections, in tracks that range from gentle, acoustic ballads and surging percussive dance numbers to duets with reggae star Luciano and Sinead O'Connor's back-up singers, the Screaming Orphans.