Everything Is Never Quite Enough

Release issued in standard jewel case with clear tray, and front and rear inserts. Liner notes: "I am Senegalese, but I don't play the djembé." - Wasis Diop This puzzling preliminary statement leaves you either suspicious or amazed by the synthetic quality of the formulation. In 1988, it admirably sums up Wasis Diop's approach. "Toxu" (Renaissance), the record which brings success, is a brilliant combination of African rhythms, soul and reggae and also a painful exorcism of his brother's passing. Dedicated to Léopold Sedar Senghor and Nelson Mandela, the record [Everything is Never Quite Enough] unites great names from the upper crust of World Music, including David Bryne and Amadou and Mariam the emblematic blind couple from Mali who accompany Diop in a strange and telluric visit of the Talking Heads' "Once in a Lifetime". Wally Badarou, undisputed star of a whole continent, co-produces the silk and velvet-like draperies. Beth Hirsch participates in "Everything" (profitably used in the original soundtrack of "The Thomas Crown Affair"). Wasis Diop offers us the music of a world as we would like it to be - wide open and free. The African artist is systematically classified somewhere between the Brazilian Ceanto Veloso and The Talking Heads. He is also compared to the nomadic spirit of the jazzman Don Cherry, sometimes rightfully so, but an artist's creation can never be reduced to a list of influences or analogies. The compelling force in Wasis Diop's approach is his love of travel. He takes us to the very heart of the place where all people meet, through the crucial crossing of his guitar's strings. He makes us follow the sound of a saxophone at a street corner and guides us through the thunder of ceremonial drums. His relentless curiosity leads him into small forgotten lanes, and drives both him and us to undertake unheard of voyages. The sweet and subtle poetry of his [musical] itineraries makes them all the more touching.