Tribute to Ndiouga Dieng

Despite the title, the first album from the legendary Senegalese dance band in a decade is not a tribute album in the usual sense. Instead, it is a set of mostly new songs that simply carry a heartfelt dedication on the cover to original vocalist Dieng, who died in November 2016 after singing with the group in every phase of its career since the early 70s. It would be crass to say he’s not missed, but one of Baobab’s strengths was that they have always boasted several lead vocalists and the sturdy voices of founder members Balla Sidibé and Rudy Gomis and the presence of Dieng’s son Alpha cover his loss without skipping a beat, while guest vocalists Cheikh Lô and Thione Seck (who left Baobab to go solo in 1979) provide further sinuous vocal variation.

The rock-steady Afro-Cuban rhythms and sweetly lyrical brass arrangements also remain reassuringly familiar. Yet there have been changes. For the first time, a kora has a permanent place in the line-up, the dreamy cascades of notes from Abdouleye Cissoko taking centre stage in the classic Baobab shuffle on tracks such as ‘Fayinkounko’ and ‘Magnokoputo’, plus the acoustic ‘Mariama’, which sounds quite unlike anything else in the Baobab canon. To an extent, the kora fills the substantial gap left by veteran guitarist Barthélémy Attisso, who has returned to his law practice in Togo. His replacement, René Sowatche, a young guitarist from Benin, makes some spirited contributions, despite being very much a junior partner in the enterprise. It’s good to have them back.