Yakar

Senegalese fusionist Idrissa Diop here presents a program of full-fledged fusion. There are pieces of jazz, straightforward rock, and a good healthy dose of Latin all making themselves well-known along the course of the album. There's a good deal of funk tossed in for good measure, too, with the bassist and guitarist taking turns riffing from the opening track. On "Tire Ailleurs," Ralph Thamar joins in for a bit on a softer note, and on "Life Diop" he kicks the horns back up for a funkier bit of work. Within two tracks, he's gone into pure unabashed salsa, only to drop the tempo back down again for a ballad in "Africains et Antillais." He comes back to Latin music in the next track, going back to a vocal jazz ballad afterwards. The album finishes up on more jazz-funk fusion, with a good bit of rock guitar running through "Dara." Overall, the album covers a lot of stylistic ground, filling the spectrum from Latin to Caribbean to jazz to funk to rock. Surprisingly enough, though, there isn't actually a great deal of traditional African influence to be readily found here, aside from what influence is notable in the handling of the rhythms. Pick it up as a nice look at what happens when the Dakar studios pick up wholeheartedly on other trends around the world.