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Orchestra Baobab at 50: Senegal's Afro-Cuban legends hand over to a new generation

Orchestra Baobab, the Dakar band that has blended Afro-Cuban and West African music since 1970, is betting on younger players to carry it past half a century. Africanews reported on October 20 that the group was about to release Made in Senegal, its first album of new songs in nearly 10 years, with 12 tracks, about half newly composed. Hindustan Times carried the story of the band's new generation on October 30.

The losses have been heavy. Founding guitarist Barthelemy Attisso died in 2021, and singer-percussionists Balla Sidibe and Rudy Gomis and saxophonist Issa Cissokho died in the early 2020s. Percussionist Mountaga “Taga” Koite, 73, is the last original member. The nine-piece line-up now includes newcomers mostly in their 30s and 40s, such as Benin-born lead guitarist “Bolero” Lagratte, 37, and vocalist Korka Dieng, 44, who joined in 2023 as the band's first and only woman member.

“People view Senegal through us, we bring Senegalese culture with us.” — Wilfried Zinsou, via Africanews

How each outlet framed it

• Africanews — a national institution: the band as a keeper of Senegal's musical memory, with a fan calling it “a monument.”
• Hindustan Times — the succession story, presented in its music section as a band betting on new talent.

For listeners new to the band, Africanews notes it dominated Dakar's club scene in the 1970s, went on hiatus, and found international fame after re-forming in the early 2000s. Its last album, Tribute to Ndiouga Dieng (2017), honoured a late founding vocalist.

What we don't know yet: neither outlet gives tour dates to promote the new album.