Orchestra Baobab

Individual

Origin

Biography

Orchestra Baobab: the baobab that grows back after being cut down

In 1970, six musicians left the Star Band of Dakar to found the musical house of the brand-new Club Baobab, named after the ancestral Senegalese tree. This group would become, in a few years, the most cosmopolitan and distinctive formation of African music — an orchestra where son cubano, this Cuban dance style imported by sailors since the 1940s, meets the harmonies of Casamance, Wolof melodies, and the arpeggios of a self-taught Togolese guitarist.

In brief


Name	Orchestra Baobab (alias Gouye Guy de Dakar)
Origin	Dakar, Senegal
Genres	Son cubano, Wolof music, Manding traditions, Afro-Cuban jazz
Active period	1970–1987, 2001–present
Founding members	Balla Sidibé (vocals, timbales), Rudy Gomis (vocals, percussion), Barthélémy Attisso (guitar), Issa Cissoko (saxophone), Baro N’Diaye (saxophone), Latfi Benjeloum (rhythm guitar)
Signature works	Specialist in All Styles, Pirates Choice, Made in Dakar, “On verra ça”
Distinctions	BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music (2003); Grammy Award nomination

Key dates

Year	Event
1970	Formation at the Club Baobab in Dakar; recording of the first two albums
1974	Death of Laye M’Boup, the first Wolof griot singer
1975–79	Peak of popularity in Senegal; closure of the Club Baobab
1982	Legendary session of Ken Dou Werente (published in 1989 under the title Pirates Choice)
1987	Disbandment in the face of the rise of mbalax — a genre inspired by funk carried forward by Youssou N’Dour
2002	Release of Specialist in All Styles, produced with Youssou N’Dour
2003	Two BBC Awards and Grammy nomination
2005	Concert at Live 8 in Johannesburg
2007	Release of Made in Dakar
2016	Death of Ndiouga Dieng; Tribute to Ndiouga Dieng (2017)
2019–20	Death of Issa Cissoko and Balla Sidibé; Thierno Koité takes over leadership

Mixture, metamorphosis and rebirth

Son cubano — music stemming from Cuban dance rhythms, popularized in West Africa since the 1940s — had already nourished several Senegalese formations. Orchestra Baobab did something else: it took this Cuban base and married it to the most diverse traditions of its own continent. “Tradition didn’t fit too well into the Star Band, which was lively and modern. Experimenting with tradition, as Baobab did, was unique at the time,” explained Barthélémy Attisso later on (translated from English).

This mixed ambition was embodied in the very composition of the group. Laye M’Boup, Wolof griot, sang the traditions of the north; Balla Sidibé and Rudy Gomis, from Casamance (the cultural south of Senegal), brought the harmonies and Jola and Balanta percussion. The Togolese guitarist Attisso, self-taught and former law student, wove arpeggios of crystalline precision. The Malian saxophonist Issa Cissoko and the Casamanchean bassist Charlie N’Diaye completed this picture.

This mixture made them, from 1970 onwards, the most listened-to formation in Dakar. Their hit “On verra ça”, composed by Balla Sidibé, became the anthem of Senegalese evenings. But the tragic death of Laye M’Boup, cut down in an accident in 1974, marked a turning point. The group reorganized around new voices — Ndiouga Dieng, Wolof griot, and Thione Seck, who would later become a solo star.

At the beginning of the 1980s, mbalax — this nervous style mixing sabar drums with funk and soul influences — invaded the nights of Dakar. Baobab’s slow sound seemed outdated. In 1987, the group split up. Attisso returned to Togo to practice law. But the story was not over. As the world music movement gained momentum in Europe, the British label World Circuit discovered the recordings. Ken Dou Werente, recorded in 1982, was published in 1989 under the title Pirates Choice. Specialized press found it “subtle, succulent, soft as velvet” (DJ Charlie Gillett, Songlines). Among connoisseurs, it reached cult status.

From 2001 onwards, Nick Gold, director of World Circuit, persuaded the former members to reunite. Irony of history, Youssou N’Dour — whose mbalax had contributed to Baobab’s decline — participated in the rebirth by co-producing Specialist in All Styles, published in 2002 and recorded in London over ten days. The album received unanimous acclaim, won two BBC Awards, and was nominated for a Grammy. “You cannot destroy a baobab. Cut it down, it grows back. This group was cut and grew back from the same root,” Attisso confessed (translated from English). Made in Dakar (2007) reinterpreted the classics. The album Tribute to Ndiouga Dieng (2017) paid tribute to the departed singer a year earlier. Thierno Koité, long-time saxophonist, continues to lead the group that keeps touring around the world.

Major works

Work	Year	Why it’s essential
Pirates Choice (Ken Dou Werente)	1989	Reissue that revealed the group to the world — cult status among connoisseurs
Specialist in All Styles	2002	Triumphant comeback; two BBC Awards and Grammy nomination
Made in Dakar	2007	Masterful reinterpretation of the classics; confirmation of the group’s vitality
“On verra ça”	1975	Anthemic repertoire piece, illustrating the Wolof-cubano-Casamanchean fusion

Legacy

Orchestra Baobab remains living proof that mixture is a form of excellence. Their sound — blending the Cuban base with the most diverse traditions of Senegal — paved the way for generations of African artists. More than forty years after their debut, the group continues to perform on world stages, carried forward by a new generation of singers who know the entire repertoire.