There is a tender urgency and spiritual intensity in the voice of Senegal’s Baaba Maal. When he sings in his native Pulaar language listeners are transfixed by the ethereal tone of his voice as unimaginable variations of crystal clear high-pitched notes float and soar without bounds and fill the space between heaven and earth with a sound that is rare and beautiful. On April 2, Cal Performances at UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall presented Maal and his troupe. They delivered a stunning performance of traditional Fulani music that brought the crowd to their feet. Maal opened the show with the song "Bayo" which he dedicated to all the children of the world who lose their families due to the AIDS virus, especially in Africa where the epidemic continues to grow unchecked. Baaba Maal sings in the language of the nomadic Fula people who also make their home in Guinea, Benin, Mali, Niger and Somalia. He always appears on stage dressed in exquisite traditional Senegalese garments that accent the experiences of his live performance.

Maal was born in the riverside town of Podor located in the northern region of Senegal. As a youth he learned to play the kora but later in his career he embraced the guitar as his instrument of choice. He is a world musician that was influenced by many African American performers like James Brown, Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett and Jamaican Reggae artists like Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff. Training at the music conservator in Dakar enhanced his musical education and he won a scholarship to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France where he began study in composition and arrangement of Western music. In Paris he joined with longtime friend, blind singer Mansour Seek. He returned to Senegal where he formed the group Dande Lenol or Voice of the People. His well-received 1994 release of Firin’ in Fouta has given Maal critical international acclaim and opened the way for other noteworthy releases including Nomad Soul (1998). His 2001 release Missing You or Mi Yeewnii (pronounced Me-U-knee) is an acoustic love affair where Maal plays guitar and brilliantly weaves the sounds of indigenous instruments of Senegal with the night magic heard in a traditional Africa village. In 2003 Baaba Maal continues the journey with the release of his album, Lam Toro. All of the releases mentioned are on the Palm Pictures label which also released a spectacular visual and audio experience with Baaba Maal Live At The Royal Festival Hall released on DVD in 1999.

Baaba Maal honors and preserves the traditional folklore music of African with his all-acoustic folklore group that use traditional African instruments in all their performances. Maal did not perform his many incredible dance steps at this show and it has been rumored that he recently suffered a leg injury. Nonetheless, the audience at Zellerbach Hall joined in the musical celebration at first by clapping along and then, one by one African dancers in the audience ran on stage to perform. Near the end of his performance the audience was on its feet and pushing for position in front of the stage. Many of his fans joined Maal and his musicians on stage to end the night with a joyful show of love for Baaba Maal and the music of Senegal.