Senegalese music institution Orchestra Baobab is preparing to release Made in Senegal, its first album of new songs in nearly 10 years.

The 12-track album is scheduled to arrive on Friday and reflects the group’s effort to maintain its distinctive sound while welcoming a younger generation of musicians. Approximately half of the songs are newly composed, while the vast majority have not appeared on an earlier Orchestra Baobab album.

A changing lineup

The release comes as younger performers gradually take on roles once held by the orchestra’s veteran members. Orchestra Baobab was formed in 1970 and later returned from a hiatus in the early 2000s. The group is known for combining Wolof griot music, Congolese rumba, Senegalese mbalax and jazz through an Afro-Cuban musical approach.

Mountaga “Taga” Koite, described as the band’s last remaining original member, said the transition had not altered his experience of the group. “For me, nothing changed,” he said.

Koite also said the newer members could help the orchestra continue for another century. The musicians’ stated aim is to retain the band’s historic soul and core sound while adding only limited elements of their own style.

Korka Dieng began singing with Orchestra Baobab in 2023 and is the group’s first and only woman member. She said the younger musicians are working “to preserve the originality that brought the legendary orchestra to where it is today.” Dieng added that listeners are “starting to realise that Orchestra Baobab isn’t just old-school. There is a new generation.”

New compositions and a lasting legacy

The album includes “Gorgorlou”, composed by Wilfried Zinsou, and “Wida”, written by lead guitarist “Bolero” Lagratte. Lagratte replaced founding member Barthelemy Attisso, who died in 2021.

Several prominent members, including Balla Sidibe, Rudy Gomis and Issa Cissokho, died in the early 2020s. The group’s previous album of new songs was Tribute to Ndiouga Dieng, released in 2017.

Yahya Fall, who is 76, described the latest material as offering a different dimension to the music associated with Orchestra Baobab. Speaking to AFP, he said listeners could hear “a freshness, something new, something exceptional, something people haven’t really heard from the founders before.”

The orchestra continues to draw audiences in Senegal. At a performance at the Just For You venue in Dakar, attendees danced to the group’s music. Koite said that “as soon as Baobab’s music starts, people get up to dance.”

Fan Moustapha Samb described the group as “a monument, it represents memory and resilience” for Senegal.

Zinsou, 48, said Orchestra Baobab also carries Senegalese culture beyond the country’s borders. “People view Senegal through us, we bring Senegalese culture with us,” he said. “Those unfamiliar with Senegal see the country through Orchestra Baobab.”

With Made in Senegal, the orchestra is seeking to extend that cultural legacy while demonstrating that its future includes musicians from a new generation.