Diamonoye Tiopité (L'époque De L'évolution)

The first ever release by Teranga Beat is this compilation of songs recorded between 1969 and  1976 by Idrissa Diop,  his band Sahel,  and his duo with Cheikh Tall. Through their changing musical style, the record also captures the transformative period in Senegalese music that saw mbalax — the fusion of traditional sounds of Senegal’s  Serer people with modern popular music — overtake Afro-Cuban music as the dominant sound in Senegal. The first half of the record is all Cuban rhythms, with the Latin horns and Spanish lyrics of “Cintorita” or the funky Afro-Cuban salsa “Caridad”, while sabar percussion takes over on the second half, with closing track “Gueth” developing over a bed of tama drums.