Music makes my heart sing

I first bought one of Baaba Maal's albums in Paris in 1999 because I was intrigued by the cover. I listened to it a million times and then tried to find more of his recordings. I have listened to his music endlessly since then. When I moved to Brooklyn in 2005, I coincidently moved to a neighborhood with a large West African community. 

When I went to the Baaba Maal concert in New York by myself, I was surprised to see so many of my neighbors at the show. At the concert we all became very good friends and they helped me finally start volunteering in the neighborhood, which I had unsucessfully tried to do many times. This eventually led me to want to come to Mauritania four years later. And again, I went to the Baaba Maal concert alone and, just like last time, I found many friends there to remind me that I am never alone in my love of Baaba Maal!

I have seen his concerts in the U.S. many times but none of those have compared to the brilliance of his two concerts this weekend in Nouakchott. For the first time, I was seeing Baaba Maal perform for an audience where the majority of people shared his same culture and language. He was preceded on stage by a line of young girls dressed in traditional clothing and carrying gifts. They were stunningly beautiful.

Baaba Maal addressed the audience in Pulaar and spoke passionately about African unity and the strength of the Fula diaspora. Baaba Maal knows that his message has a lot of influence for positive change and he uses his voice to advocate for the marginalized and disenfranchised and for building a better world. 

I was the most surprised when one of the drummers called my name and asked me to come to the stage, at which point he introduced me to everyone and handed me the microphone. Baaba Maal put his arm around me and just when I thought it couldn't get any better, he started singing his song "Deliya"! It was unforgettable. 

I have many friends in New York and Senegal to thank for that moment. They made sure that I would enjoy the concert more than anyone else in the world. 

On both evenings, Baaba Maal's powerful voice filled the entire room and awakened the hearts of everyone present. During the final song, the young girls returned to the stage to dance. It was a perfect end to a perfect evening.