This was a festival dominated by two great veterans and a whole lot of newcomers – and it was Youssou N'Dour, who first appeared at Womad back in 1986, who provided one of the highlights. His performance on the final evening, in a rainstorm, was a rousing reminder that he still possesses one of the greatest voices in Africa, capable of moving effortlessly from edgy, urgent mbalax dance songs to light, soulful ballads such as the glorious Li Ma Weesu and Birima. Then there was the "positive" ballad New Africa, a speech about fighting malaria, and a solo reworking of 7 Seconds. N'Dour is nearly 50, but he was on classic form.
Saturday saw a gig from Womad co-founder Peter Gabriel, playing his only European show this year. He mingled old hits with experimental new numbers, using an impressive string quartet for a slow, thoughtful reworking of Paul Simon's The Boy in the Bubble. The last number was a powerful treatment of Biko, accompanied by a mention of Gabriel's Witness charity, which uses technology to expose human rights violations.
Elsewhere, there was an emotional set from the Aboriginal and white Australian collective, the Black Arm Band, who combined film and music for a multimedia revue highlighting "the two worlds of Australia". The music was mostly rock or reggae, with extraordinary didgeridoo effects from Mark Atkins.
Other festival highlights provided further reminders that "world music" really is global these days, and increasingly experimental. From Peru (and France) came Radiokijada, with the Gotan Project's Christoph H Müller joining in for a cool, percussive reworking of black Peruvian styles. This was only the second performance from a band that started out as a studio project, and they succeeded thanks to the soulful vocals of their new singer, Angela Maria Fontana, and Müller's restraint with the electronics. From Argentina there was a compelling set from Daniel Melingo, a tango exponent with a fine crooning voice who looks like a cross between Tom Waits and a Latin cowboy playboy.
It was a good weekend, too, for European bands. Berlin's 17 Hippies mixed Gypsy styles and French chanson. Charlie Winston, from Suffolk, showed off the cheerfully brash blend of rock, blues and vaudeville that has made him such a big success with French audiences. And the Bristol acoustic quartet Spiro demonstrated their virtuoso blend of folk themes and systems music.
But all good Womads rely on great Africans, and N'Dour's set was equalled only by the frantic dance workout of a gloriously funky Rokia Traoré.
