Youssou N'Dour December 5, 2007

Modern Senegalese popular music, known in the Wolof language as mbalax, is an enchanting blend of Senegal's traditional percussion and griot singing with Afro-Cuban dance flavors. In Youssou N'Dour, mbalax has found its most enduring symbol and innovator. A vocal artist with incredible range and poise, N'Dour was dubbed "the West African Sinatra" by New York Newsday after one stirring concert in Manhattan's Hammerstein Ballroom.