Orchestra Baobab returns with Made in Senegal

More than half a century after its founding, Orchestra Baobab will release Made in Senegal on October 23, its first album of new compositions since 2017. Since the 1970s, the Senegalese group has blended Afro-Cuban influences, Congolese rumba, jazz and West African traditions, performing in Dakar and on international stages. Despite the deaths of key members including Balla Sidibé, Rudy Gomis and Issa Cissokho, the band regained success in the early 2000s and continues its legacy with newer musicians. Korka Dieng, who joined in 2023 as the group’s first woman member, says interest among young audiences is growing.