Recently, I took a chance and downloaded a few tracks of Orchestra Baobab from eMusic. Amazing, great stuff, I'm going to try to find more. Mike pointed me towards Thione Seck a while ago, Mr. Seck sings on the tracks eMusic has available.
The two 1980-81 albums collected here are as much proof as you need: the rhythms are Cuban rhumba gone native, dense and relaxed and utterly beguiling. They also give lead guitarist Barthelemy Atisso, an ace among aces, plenty of room to stretch out. If you want to figure out how to combine lissome and deadly on the guitar, listen hard and copy everything he does.
I've always had a fondness for swinging cuban jazz/rock, according to Chris Nickson of Allmusic, the Cuban sound was part of woof and weave of Senegal.
allmusic ((( Orchestra Baobab > Biography ))):
From inauspicious beginnings as the weekend house band at a Dakar club for government officials, Senegal's Orchestra Baobob, named for the club (which in turn took its name from the native baobob tree), went on to become one of the seminal bands of world music, with an influence that extended far beyond their national boundaries, throughout West Africa and into Europe. Put together by original leader and saxophonist Baro N'Diaye, the first version was a seven-piece group, three of them enticed away from Dakar's biggest band, the Star Band, who had a regular gig at Ibra Kasse's club. While they had a strong Cuban influence -- Cuban music had been a prevalent sound throughout West Africa since the '40s, imported by sailors and played on the radio -- Orchestra Baobob added African music, in large part from griot singer Laye M'Boup, who had a vast repertoire of Wolof material. It wasn't long before the new sound proved so popular that the group wasn't just entertaining on weekends, but every night of the week, being hailed on par with Guinea's legendary Bembeya Jazz for their fusion of sounds. Inevitably, personnel fluctuated and the new musicians brought their own influences, expanding the feel and range of the band with Maninke and Malinke songs, which became integrated into the whole. Perhaps the most important addition was singer Thione Seck, who took over the lead vocalist spot after the death of M'Boup in a 1974 car wreck (although several rumors concerning a jealous husband surrounded his death).
“Pirates Choice” (Orchestra Baobab)
For people who know their Senegalese music, Orchestra Baobab's Pirates Choice is the Holy Grail. By the time this music was recorded to four-track in 1982, the immensely popular band had been playing nightly for years at a Dakar club called Baobab. But legendary status in Senegal didn't help the musicians get wider attention--the album wasn't released in Europe until 1987, and it only now comes to the U.S. for the first time. Latin music was popular in Dakar, a port city, and the band mixed various strains of Latin music with different African music styles to create uniformly stunning results not all that different from Afro-Cuban music. The French vocals are lovely, and the powerful mix of African and Latin percussion is undeniable--but keep a particular ear out for guitarist Barthelemy Attisso, whose tasteful leads float over the top. The original six-track album is hard to pass up, but this reissue contains a second disk with six unreleased songs from the same session, making this a must-have.
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I really love them. I still think Thione Seck's vocals in "Mouhammadou Bamba" from that album is among the most beautiful ever recorded.
Have you heard "Specialist in All Styles"? They still sound just as great after 20 years.
No, I haven't yet heard anything other than Bamba, but will rectify that soon.