Baobab Brings Unique Afro-Cuban Music Blend to PAC April 29

SAN LUIS OBISPO -- Orchestra Baobab, the groove-music
12-member Afro-Cuban ensemble who dominated the music of Senegal in the
1970s, will perform on Thursday, April 29, 2004, at 8 p.m. in the
Christopher Cohan Center.

Billboard Magazine called "one of the great bands in the history of West
African music...The revitalized Orchestra Baobab sounds fabulous. Their
Afro-Cuban sound is a thing of beauty... its return couldn’t be more
timely."

In an evening of Latin rhythms and African melodies, Cal Poly Arts
presents the group as part of Cal Poly Arts' innovative Director's
Choice series, which highlights emerging artists in featured performances.

Senegal is a country with a rich musical heritage and one of the most
vibrant pop music scenes on the African continent. In the 1970s, the
style that filled Senegal's airwaves was a fusion of Afro-Cuban elements
with various local sounds drawn from Senegal's diverse cultural
traditions. The undisputed masters of this fusion were the legendary
Orchestra Baobab.

Baobab -- named for the baobab tree, one of the most emblematic and
majestic trees of the African Savannah -- exploded onto the Dakar scene
in 1970. They immediately became the top local band, famous for their
sublime and sophisticated arrangements, lyrical vocals and dazzling
guitar solos.

For a decade, Baobab reigned supreme, recruiting some of the finest
musicians from around the country, making them one of Senegal's most
cosmopolitan and versatile bands.

Their approach to the Cuban sound went beyond imitation: they created
their own mellow, unique Cuban-style rhythms. Orchestra Baobab featured
rolling harmonies and intensely melodic drumming traditions, which was
to become Baobab's trademark.

Their hauntingly beautiful ballads and their rocking songs became
all-time hits in West Africa. They founded the Baobab Club and recorded
more than 20 albums between 1970 and 1985, including the acclaimed
"Pirate's Choice," which was released internationally. Among
connoisseurs of West African music, Orchestra Baobab achieved almost
cult status.

But by the early 80s, times were changing in Senegal. There was a new
sound in the nightclubs and Cuban rhythms were exchanged for adaptations
of the Sabar street dances.

The Baobab Club closed in 1979 and the band had moved on to new
locations. There was a new political movement and there was intense
guerrilla warfare in the region. One by one, members of the band left,
and by 1987 the band had completely broken up.

In 2001, Nick Gold, director of World Circuit, decided to reissue
"Pirate's Choice", this time with some previously unreleased material
from the same 1982 sessions. It was Baobab's mellow arrangements of
Cuba's dance rhythms that had first inspired Gold to research Cuban
music, leading eventually to the most successful ever world music album,
"The Buena Vista Social Club."

Gold was already collaborating with premiere Afro vocalist Youssou
N'Dour on several other Senegalese projects and Gold enlisted N'Dour's
support for an Orchestra Baobab reunion concert.

Said N'Dour: "(Baobab) had such a clean sound and they were Pan-African.
We're ready for this to come back. We've put up barriers in our music
and we have to bring the barriers down. All the young kids, they
understand now just how important those years, the 70s, were for their
music, so they're ready to listen."

The core members of Baobab got together for a reunion concert at
London's Barbican Centre in May, 2001. And though Baobab hadn't played
together for almost 20 years, they proved that they were still one of
the great live bands of West Africa.

Critics and audiences agreed that their music sounded as powerful as
ever, a refreshing take on Senegal's cultural diversity, driven by the
mesmerizing guitar solos and haunting vocals.

In November, 2001, Baobab recorded "Specialist in All Styles," with
their signature Afro-Cuban blend and a totally "live" feel. The
release includes stunning new material, as well as some old favorites.

"'Specialist in All Styles' reunites many of the key members from
Baobab’s golden era and affirms their timeless power. This is groove
music at once relaxed and unyielding, insistent enough for the dance
floor, trance-y enough to lull an infant." (Rolling Stone)

"There is no way you won’t fall instantly in love with the Orchestra’s
exquisite ripple of guitars...gorgeous." (The Independent on Sunday)

Tickets for the performance range from $22 to $34, with student
discounts available, and may be purchased at the Performing Arts Ticket
Office, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. To
order by phone, call 805/756-2787; to order by fax: 805/756-6088. Order
on-line at www.pacslo.org.

Sponsored by Scott and Barbara Radovich and KCBX 90.1 FM.

For audio and video samples of Cal Poly Arts events, visit
www.calpolyarts.org.

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