Orchestre Du Baobab

Orchestra Baobab were born in 1970 when six musicians left Senegal’s Star Band to form their own outfit. From the outset they set themselves apart by blending griot Wolof vocals and the rolling harmonies and melodic drumming from Casamance, a region in the south of the country, with Afro-Cuban rhythms. Their first two albums, both named Orchestre Du Baobab and produced in 1970 and 1972, feature the sonero-like vocals of Medoune Diallo, the most Cuban sounding of all of Baobab’s lead singers. The 1972 album includes songs sung in Spanish and Wolof (“El Vagabondes” and “Kanoute”) and covers of Cuban originals (“Baila mi Gente” and “Mi Nuevo Amor”), capturing the verve and vitality that still keeps the band going strong 50 years later.