Orchestra Baobab Announces UK January 2012 Tour

Renowned Senegalese band Orchestra Baobab is making a long awaited return to the UK in 2012, playing at the Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow on 28 January, The Sage Gateshead on 29 January and the Barbican in London on 30 January.

Orchestra Baobab was formed in 1970 and were soon recording hit after hit, creating their own sound from Dakar’s cultural melting pot of European, Afro-Cuban, Islamic and African influences.

They earned their chops and their name as the house band for Dakar’s hotspot and ultimate nightclub, the Baobab. As time went on and the musical landscape shifted, Orchestra Baobab found its influence waning with younger musicians like Youssou N’Dour stealing the limelight and disbanded in 1985.

In 2001, the band reformed and released Specialist in All Styles, renewing interest and capturing new listeners, not to mention earning a couple of BBC Radio 3 Awards and a Grammy nomination.

Their most recent album is Made In Dakar.