Baaba Maal

Nairobi has a habit of advertising performances by high-profile musicians that never materialize. Chief among these is Akon. He was scheduled to play in December, but that was canceled to due to 'election-season concerns', which is fair enough I suppose. Then he was scheduled to play again this year, but never showed up. It wasn't clear from the newspaper write-up whether Akon was actually aware that he was expected in Nairobi. A week or two ago, the newspapers said this year's Sawa Sawa Festival was set to be headlined by Youssou N'Dour. In the event, we got his Senegalese compatriot Baaba Maal, who was plenty capable of providing a reminder of why west Africa is more famous for its music than the east.