"Where Are You" editor John Oseid dives into the magical music of Senegal

As she traveled from Dakar to the provincial towns of Senegal for her story L'Afrique, Mon Amour, Amy Wilentz heard mbalax at every turn. While the West African nation's signature pop-music is highly accessible to western listeners—it has become one of the continent's great cultural exports, after all—a bit of familiarity with the sound and it stars goes a long way toward maximum enjoyment.

In a historical twist, much of modern West African music can be traced to Cuba, as phonographs and live Cuban dance bands made their way to African ports in the post-war era. By the seventies, Senegalese groups like the multi-ethnic Orchestra Baobab had gained fame for their Latin groove (never mind that they couldn't speak Spanish). It was from these pre-mbalax groups that many future stars emerged.

While western keyboards and electric guitar are featured in mbalax, its unique sound comes above all from voices drenched in the griot praise telling tradition, and from indigenous instruments. Mbalax singers are accompanied by an ensemble of sabar drummers who beat with their hands as well as a stick. In Senegal, ancient African talking drums held under the arms are called tama, their haunting sound produced by being squeezed, tapped and struck with a stick.

A marimba-like instrument made from calabash and wooden keys, the balafon can match a surfboard in length. While not as commonly used in mbalax, the gourd based kora is a 21-string lute-like gourd that produces achingly beautiful tunes.

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You no longer have to go to Dakar for a mbalax fix; The biggest stars regularly play clubs in Paris, music festivals in London and New York, as well as small theaters in college towns across America.

Youssou N'Dour is currently touring North America for his new album Rokku Mi Rokka (Give and Take), a tribute to lesser known music traditions in his country (see Nonesuch Records for tour dates. Whether in his own club Thiossane in Dakar, or in New York at his annual Great African Ball or a small acoustic set at Joe's Pub, the great man might not hit the stage until 2 a.m. Among his many other albums, Egypt, written in praise of the Marabout Islam tradition, won a Grammy Award in 2004. In Dakar, N'Dour records in his own Xippi studios which produces many other top performers.

N'Dour's contemporary Baaba Maal, a Fulani from northern Senegal, is produced by the legendary Chris Blackwell of Island Record fame. A Baaba Maal concert is a lesson in kinetic energy; at various interludes several dancers will flank him, arms, legs and braids flying through the air to the surging beat of as many as a dozen sabar drums.