Details: Amazon.ca Missing You (Mi Yeewnii) is Baaba Maal's unplugged album and a gorgeous thing it is too. Fans of earlier, traditional and mostly acoustic recordings like Baayo and Djam Leelii will be over the moon. The main difference from those albums is that Missing You (Mi Yeewnii) casts its net beyond Maal's home town of Podor in Northern Senegal for musical inspiration. Instead of looking overseas as he did on his previous two studio albums, however, he focuses on neighbouring parts of West Africa. As well as the usual local styles of yela and mbalax, there are influences from Mali, Guinea and the south of Senegal. The album was recorded in relaxed, outdoor night-time sessions at one of Maal's homes, with incidental sounds of village life and crickets creating a richly atmospheric backdrop. His captivating voice is never drowned out by the acoustic arrangements, which include delicate traditional instruments such as kora, Fulani flute, the banjo-like hoddu, balafon and various drums. And of course there's his trademark acoustic guitar alongside that of long-term sidekick Mansour Seck. Don't expect dancefloor fillers but prepare for plenty of spiritualised spine-tingling songs. --Jon Lusk
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