One of Africa’s most celebrated bands comes to Sheffield as legendary Senegalese group Orchestra Baobab brings more than five decades of musical history to The Octagon Centre.
Formed in Dakar in 1970, Orchestra Baobab emerged at a time when Afro-Cuban music had become hugely influential across West Africa.
The group developed a distinctive sound by bringing those Latin rhythms into conversation with the musical traditions of Senegal.
Their music draws particularly on Wolof, Mandinka and Serer traditions, creating an elegant blend of guitars, percussion, vocals and Cuban-influenced rhythms that has earned the band an international following.
After becoming one of West Africa’s most important bands during the 1970s and 1980s, Orchestra Baobab later introduced its music to a new global audience.
The group’s story also reflects the long musical conversation between Africa and the Caribbean. Rhythms carried across the Atlantic through the African diaspora helped shape Cuban music, before recordings from Cuba travelled back to West Africa and influenced a new generation of African musicians.
That history makes Orchestra Baobab particularly fitting for a Black History Month programme: their music is a living example of cultural exchange across Africa and its diaspora.
For audiences interested in African music, jazz, Latin rhythms or the extraordinary cultural connections created across the Black Atlantic, Orchestra Baobab promises one of Sheffield’s standout live music events this October.
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