Even if you're on world music's A-list, it can take a little time to warm up a Harrogate audience.

But within 20 minutes, Youssou N'Dour, the African star deemed big enough by Bob Geldof to appear at the Hyde Park Live 8 gig, had taken the crowd from quietly appreciative to cheering on their feet and dancing in the aisles.

The pacey and dense rhythms of the music known in Senegal as mbalax have brought N'Dour a world audience and his band, the Super Etoile, have redefined the term "infectious grooves". The rhythm/percussion sections

were majestic and Assane Thiam's talking drum, sounding sometimes like a heartbeat, brought the house down when he took centre stage for his solo.

There was, however, a brief moment of near-silence to appreciate the virtuosity of lead guitarist Jimmy Mbaye, whose crisp and melodic style was unmistakably African.

It would have been good to hear, by way of contrast, some of the quieter acoustic roots-based music from N'Dour's 2002 Nothing's In Vain album.

Instead, perhaps chosen as more familiar crowd-pleasers, we had the dreary hit single Seven Seconds Away and the equally bland My Hope Is In You, from the 2000 pop crossover album Joko, Village To Town.

On the other hand, we had an excellent, meatier version of the wistful Birima from the same recording.

Over all this, N'Dour's remarkable voice, with a range far wider than the 'arresting tenor' of which the programme notes speak, soared effortlessly.

Updated: 11:07 Tuesday, August 02, 2005