Li Lan La


This warm and delicate album is the first in which Diogal is responsible for all its contents, its artistic direction and its production. And what a fine individual effort it is, marking with dignity and conviction the singer’s ten years in France. The 37-year-old inspires himself from the full ethno-linguistic diversity of his native Senegal to ink in a dozen powerful songs that mix rhythms from Mali and Senegal with a wide range of percussions (the sabar, tama, calabash and cajon).

Diogal addresses pressing issues that centre on the behaviour of man towards the environment, his neighbours and his roots. He opens with a call for more humility and lightness in this troubled world. Yet his soft-spoken vocals encourage anything but frivolity. This is an urgent and vibrant clarion-call that penetrates the listener – but in the way a crystal-clear and tinkling stream washes over boulders on its descent from the mountains. The title track recounts the eternal dissatisfaction of men when confronted with their fate; “Nagu” explains that pride leads nowhere; while “Anda” advises migrants not hide their origins but hold them up with pride.

There is also “Ali”, a moving homage to Ali Farka Toure whose absence continues to be sorely felt in the world music community. And another to Diogal’s beautiful island of Ngor, an oasis of tranquility off of the teeming metropolis of Dakar. Its beaches and low-key rhythm have given birth to a startling number of talented musicians, including the equally-gifted Nuru Kane. The latter has remained firmly rooted in his country while Diogal has recreated his world in Champigny-sur-Marne, west of Paris. That’s where he recorded his entire album, in a self-built studio called Wasia. The rich tapestry evoked in Li Lan La also reflect the musicians exhaustive exchanges with the likes of Lokua Kanza, Louis Winsberg and Daby Touré. A decade after deciding to set up shop in France, it is clear that this self-taught composer has reached a level of maturity that can only bode well for the future.

April 6th 2008.

Daniel Brown

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