La Difference

2010 album from one of the best known names in African music, and his first album in four years. The album was produced by Patrice Renson, who has worked with M., Vanessa Paradis and Ben Ricour, and he gave substance to Salif's intentions with obvious efficiency; the Pop influences are more pronounced than before, yet fluidly performed. Joe Henry recorded, produced and remixed 'Papa' and 'Folon', two of the most moving titles on the album, both of them classics in Salif's repertoire, as is 'Seydou', actually a new version of the title 'Seydou Bathily', a standard from the days of the Ambassadeurs du Motel band in Bamako. 'Papa', particularly, contains traces of emotions that are universally profound, nuances of other pieces whose themes are often serious but where hope and joie de vivre triumph in the end.