A tribute to Leopold Sedar Senghor, the Senegalese poet and first president of the republic of Senegal, on the 100th anniversary of his birth. This works sets 10 of his works to music. In Wolof, Mandingo, and English. Meissa has a rich, strongly emotional voice and this entire work is inspiring and powerful. One star, each track. Many w/that changeable, narrative thread that songs from musicals have. Beware #10. It says it’s 10+ min long but it’s only 5:05…then basically silence (there’s some background wooshing…) then a bonus track at 6:20.

1. Midtempo & dark w/chorus and strings. Powerful, spiritual.
2. Sweet, lowkey, w/great cello accents, strings, and soaring vox.
3. Mostly midtempo, nice use of kora & perc. Driving & strong.
4. Falsetto/growl intro, midtempo, lyrical.
5. Lazy w/a sing-song feel at times. Very cool, touch of jazz.
6. Spare & relaxed w/soaring vox/kora/light perc
7. Accordion adds a café feel. Mid blend of Paris & Dakar.
8. Changing tempos, strings. There’s a story in here…
9. Midtempo, sweeping & lyrical. Nicely moving.
10. Starts slow & simple, gets sort of bright.
NOTE: Silence at 5:05 then at 6:06 you get a bonus track.