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Recent Reviews
Orchestra Baobab Made in Dakar World Circuit, 2008
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In 2001, when World Circuit reissued Orchestra Baobab’s Pirate’s Choice as a double CD and the toast of ‘70s Dakar came out of retirement to support the release, it was hard to tell how far things would go. After 15 years, the musicians had other lives. Were they really ready for a prolonged second act in the era of “world music?” Specialist in All Styles (2002) proved that the revived band could still deliver in the studio, and the tours and live shows continued. Now comes the long-awaited follow-up recording. While Made in Dakar breaks no new ground, it delves lovingly into this band’s vast and storied catalogue and offers polished, vigorous renditions of landmark songs. The music remains deeply satisfying, its rich variety of vocal and rhythmic textures, Issa Cissoko’s effusive saxophone riffing, and Barthélemy Attisso’s quirky, and sublimely individual guitar style all in top form.

On one level, these eleven tracks amount to a history lesson, and not just on Baobab’s eventful career, but on the emergence of modern music in West Africa as a whole. Baobab, with members from Senegal, Mali, Guinea Bissau, and Morocco, has always been a pan-African band. African salsa, proto-mbalax, rumba-à-la-Congo, griot pop, and more add up to an absolutely unique mix, more varied and idiosyncratic than, say, the salsa-focused repertoire of Africando. These songs here are sung in Wolof, Portuguese, Malinke and other languages, and each one comes with a story. “Beni Baraale” is a Bembeya Jazz cover, recalling a famous 1969 gig when the Guinean stars played Dakar’s Miami Club with the Star Band (including future Baobab members). Attisso digs deep for the fleet, gravelly growl of Bembeya guitar icon Sekou “Diamond Fingers” Diabate. On “Aline,” vocalist Balla Sidibe pays homage to the Congo pop sound that transformed urban African music in the 50s and 60s. Merdoune Diallo of Africando fame, reprises the tumbling, 12/8, Wolof roots pop of “Sibam,” a hit during Diallo’s late-70s stint with Baobab. “Ndéleng Ndéleng,” another Wolof romp, originally sung by Thione Seck, gets a sterling remake with Assane Mboup soaring through the griot-derived vocal, and an extended, rocking guitar solo from Attisso. Youssou N’Dour makes a delicious cameo on “Nijaay,” a 1972 Baobab hit.

Aside from timeless music, Orchestra Baobab conveys a priceless sense of continuity and community. At a time when so many greats of African pop’s golden age are dead, marginalized, or forgotten, it is beyond refreshing to find a session in which Youssou N’Dour, Africando, and the memories of greats from Guinea, Mali, Congo and beyond rub shoulders amicably, and still feel relevant. That alone is reason enough for Baobab to stick around and keep making music for as long as they possibly can.

Banning Eyre

Contributed by Banning Eyre for www.afropop.org