At 50 years old, Orchestra Baobab is one of the grand big bands of West Africa, and also something of a comeback story. The group went on an extended hiatus after releasing the great album Pirate’s Choice in 1982, and returned 20 years later with 2002’s Specialist in All Styles, which any group—new or old, continuously active or just off extended hiatus—would be proud to add to its discography.
This fall, for the first time, fans can add Specialist to their vinyl collections. World Circuit Records is releasing the record on Sept. 25 and you can already pre-order a copy right here. To celebrate, the band and the label put out this video of the group playing the album’s final track, “Jiin Ma Jiin Ma,” at the Jazz Vienne festival in France in 2015.
Specialist in All Styles kicked off a new century and life for Baobab, as well as a late-career string of great albums. I, for one, am clearing space in my record collection’s “O” section.
