Youssou N’Dour: Return To Gorée

Initially released in 2008, the 2021 re-release of the musical odyssey Youssou N’Dour: Return to Gorée powerfully resonates with the Black Lives Matter movement and such films as Questlove’s Summer of Soul.  The film follows the great Senegalese singer and world music star Youssou N’Dour’s historical journey tracing the trail left by enslaved Africans and the jazz music they engendered. We follow N’Dour from Senegal to Atlanta, New Orleans, New York City, France and Luxembourg as he works on perfecting his band’s jazz reflections on his own African songs. The powerful climax of the film is the final concert in Gorée, the island off the coast of Dakar, Senegal, known as “the door of no return,” which has been preserved as a symbol of the slave trade and a commemoration of its victims. Memorable musical standouts include the spectacular Atlanta a cappella singers the Harmony Harmoneers; the luminous harmonica improvisations of Gregoire Maret; the New Orleans-based drummer Idris Muhammad; and the Tunisian pianist Moncef Genoud. Amiri Baraka, the fiery African American writer and activist, helps to illuminate the history. Ultimately, the film is a testament to the power of music transformed through cross-cultural encounters, and it serves as a powerful reminder of a history often obscured. ~Arnie Malina