ORCHESTRA BAOBAB @ Metropol

One of Africa's greatest bands: Senegal's Orchestra Baobab.

Orchestra Baobab is an extraordinary group of singers and musicians who create a West African nightclub ambience with their blend of Afro-Latin styles, international pop, West African griot music and gently upbeat rhythms. Their story begins in the heart of Dakar's medina in the late 1960s and stretches across the world into the 21st century.

The band owes its beginnings to Ibra Kassé, club owner and founder of the Star Band, who turned Dakar's Club Miami into a notorious venue in the mid-1960s. The band absorbed new rhythms from around the world - music flowing into cosmopolitan Dakar from America, Europe and Cuba, as well as from Senegal's West African neighbours Ghana, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Guinea and the Ivory Coast. This eclectic mix of local and international rhythms and styles later became part of Baobab's DNA.

Club Baobab opened its doors in 1970. The owners recruited star vocalists Balla Sidibe, Rudy Gomis and guitarist Barthelemy Attisso. Bassist Charlie Ndiaye and percussionist Mountaga Koite soon followed, along with rhythm guitarist Latfi Ben Jelloun, Nigerian clarinetist Peter Udo and veteran griot singer Laye Mboup.

From then on, Orchestra Baobab set the pace for a new era of modern Senegalese and African music. Blending pop, soul, funk and traditional music from all over Senegal and beyond, Orchestra Baobab developed an unmistakable style.
Over the decades, Baobab's line-up has changed, with sad departures and exciting arrivals. Under the direction of the great Balla Sidibé, their critically acclaimed 2017 LP, Tribute to Ndiouga Dieng, revisits old territories and forges new on.

Photos: @ Emerged Agency