Time Out NY: Orchestra Baobab Prove to Be Specialists in Many Styles on New Album

With Orchestra Baobab's new album, Made in Dakar, due out on Tuesday, the group's co-founder Barthélemy Attisso spoke with Time Out New York about the new album, the forthcoming tour, and the joys of bringing their music to the rest of the world.

Time Out's K. Leander Williams writes that Attisso has "been singled out as one of the most distinctive guitarist-arrangers the African continent has produced." In 2002, that singular sound met with another iconic musical ambassador when Youssou N'Dour produced what Williams calls the group's "triumphant reunion album," Specialist in All Styles. N'Dour's guest vocals on the new album leads to the "gorgeous update" of the band's classic song "Nijaay" and proves another example of the band's effort to showcase as many of their musical interests as possible:

Along with the harder-edged album tracks "Sibam" and "Ndeleng Ndeleng," the new version of "Nijaay" has been subtly outfitted with rhythmic flourishes that mirror the griot music N'Dour turned into the Senegalese rock style mbalax.

To read the article, visit timeout.com/newyork.

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Click here to pre-order Orchestra Baobab's Made in Dakar CD now for $16 and download the album MP3s, including the exclusive Nonesuch Store bonus track, "Mamadou," on release day, May 20.

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