Specialist in All Styles

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Specialist in All Styles
Specialist in All Styles.jpg
Studio album by
Orchestra Baobab
Released2002
Studio Livingston Recording Studios
Label World Circuit [1]
Nonesuch [2]
Producer Nick Gold, Youssou N'Dour
Orchestra Baobab chronology
Pirates Choice
(2001)		Specialist in All Styles
(2002)		A Night at Club Baobab
(2006)

Specialist in All Styles is an album by the Senegalese band Orchestra Baobab, released in 2002. [3] [4] After the success of the Pirates Choice reissue, the band decided to record a reunion album. [5] It was Orchestra Baobab's first album in 15 years. [6] The album title was taken from a sign hanging outside a barbershop. [7]

Contents

The band supported the album with a world tour. [8] The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Contemporary World Music Album". [9]

Production

Recorded over 10 days in London, Specialist in All Styles was produced by Nick Gold and Youssou N'Dour; ironically, N'Dour's rise in popularity in the 1980s led in part to Orchestra Baobab's disbandment. [10] [11] [12] [13] Among the returning members were singers Balla Sidibe and Rudy Gomis, guitarist Barthelemy Atisso, and saxophonist Issa Cissoko. [14] Attiso had barely played guitar in 15 years, and had to relearn after Gold and the band's singers sent one to him. [15] A new singer, Assane Mboup, contributed to the album. [16] Like previous Baobab albums, Specialist was influenced by Cuban music; it also made use of mbalax and reggae sounds. [17] [18]

Ibrahim Ferrer and N'Dour sang on "Hommage à Tonton Ferrer". [19] [20] Many songs are remakes of the band's earlier hits, although "Bul Ma Miin" was written for the album. [7] [21] "Ndongoy Daara", about malfeasance in Qur'anic educational institutions, was written by the band's first singer, Laye Mboup. [22] [23] The vocals are in Wolof, Mandinka, Spanish, and French. [24]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [25]
Robert Christgau A [26]
Detroit Free Press Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [13]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [27]
New Internationalist Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [22]
Philadelphia Daily News B+ [2]
The Province Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [28]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [16]

Robert Christgau called the album "the ideal introduction to Baobab's relaxed mastery of American instruments, Cuban rhythms, and Senegalese form-and-content." [26] The Guardian deemed it "one of the great comeback albums," writing that "many of the songs offer a relaxed, rolling blend of Cuban salsa, African rhythms and boisterous pop melodies, dressed up with uplifting harmony singing and strong saxophone work." [29] The Toronto Star labeled it "a rich and groovy brew of African salsa, with lyrics that track mostly familiar social concerns." [20] Rolling Stone wrote that "this is groove music at once relaxed and unyielding, insistent enough for the dance floor, trance-y enough to lull an infant." [16]

Financial Times stated that "Attiso is on fine, fluid form, throwing out rippling, jazzy solos against Issa Cissokho's saxophone." [30] Newsweek determined that "though the music retains its unique fusion of Latin and African sounds, the new album is blessed with the added benefit of state-of-the-art production quality and professional sound engineering." [31] The New York Times concluded that "the great surprise on Specialist is Mr. Attiso's haunted, expressive performance." [7] The San Diego Union-Tribune opined: "More nuanced and sophisticated than its predecessor, Specialist features nine intoxicating songs that showcase the group's ebullient call-and-response vocals, swaying rhythms and pinpoint instrumental work." [32] The Chicago Tribune listed Specialist in All Styles as the 16th best album of 2002; the Los Angeles Daily News considered it the 4th best. [33] [34]

AllMusic wrote that "Attisso is all over this record, offering beautiful, inventive solos and playing whose fluidity, especially on 'Gnawe' and 'Dee Moo Wor', is wonderfully atmospheric." [25]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Bul Ma Miin"6:02
2."Sutukun"5:30
3."Dée Moo Wóor"4:16
4."Jiin Ma Jiin Ma"6:03
5."Ndongoy Daara"5:19
6."On Verra Ça"4:56
7."Hommage à Tonton Ferrer"5:52
8."El Son te Llama"5:25
9."Gnawoe"6:21

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References

  1. ↑ Bacon, Peter (28 Sep 2002). "World CD of the Week". Features. Birmingham Post. p. 52.
  2. 1 2 Takiff, Jonathan (8 Oct 2002). "Exotica". Features. Philadelphia Daily News. p. 37.
  3. ↑ "Orchestra Baobab in Concert". NPR.
  4. ↑ Cohen, Aaron (Dec 2002). "Recaptured essence". DownBeat. Vol. 69, no. 12. p. 52.
  5. ↑ Pareles, Jon (16 July 2002). "All the Variety of Africa, Played at a Genteel Pace". The New York Times. p. E5.
  6. ↑ Trapp, Roger (27 July 2002). "Jazz & Blues". Features. The Independent. p. 38.
  7. 1 2 3 Ratliff, Ben (3 Nov 2002). "Playing Catch With All Kinds of Styles". The New York Times. p. 2.15.
  8. ↑ Moszynski, Peter (Nov 2002). "Senegal: Orchestral Baobab—a legend reborn". New African. No. 412. p. 65.
  9. ↑ "Orchestra Baobab". Recording Academy. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
  10. ↑ Williamson, Nigel (July 12, 2002). "Back to their roots". Features. The Times. p. 15.
  11. ↑ Fairley, Jan (22 July 2002). "Black with a Vengeance". The Scotsman. p. 8.
  12. ↑ Williamson, Nigel (July 20, 2002). "Orchestral Maneuvers". Billboard. Vol. 114, no. 29. p. 61.
  13. 1 2 Lawson, Terry (10 Nov 2002). "Sound Judgement Reviews". Detroit Free Press. p. J4.
  14. ↑ van Vleck, Philip (Oct 19, 2002). "Specialist in all Styles". Billboard. Vol. 114, no. 42. p. 19.
  15. ↑ Moon, Tom (15 Oct 2002). "Reunited African band bridges the years". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. C1.
  16. 1 2 3 Kot, Greg (Dec 12, 2002). "Specialist in All Styles". Rolling Stone. No. 911. p. 96.
  17. ↑ Cazares, David (3 Jan 2003). "Strong Voice Echoes Out of Africa". Showtime. Sun-Sentinel. p. 24.
  18. ↑ Pareles, Jon (4 July 2003). "Pop and Jazz Guide". The New York Times. p. E25.
  19. ↑ Whitmore, Aleysia K. (May 7, 2020). World Music and the Black Atlantic: Producing and Consuming African-Cuban Musics on World Music Stages. Oxford University Press.
  20. 1 2 Chapman, Geoff (29 Oct 2002). "Worldbeat". Toronto Star. p. D6.
  21. ↑ Robbins, Li (7 Nov 2002). "Specialist in All Styles". The Globe and Mail. p. R4.
  22. 1 2 Gray, Louise (Dec 2002). "Specialist in All Styles". New Internationalist. No. 352. p. 30.
  23. ↑ Mengel, Noel (30 Nov 2002). "Orchestra Baobab, Specialist in All Styles". The Courier-Mail. p. M9.
  24. ↑ Rogers, Matt (13 Nov 2002). "Specialist in All Styles". The Village Voice. Vol. 47, no. 46. p. 72.
  25. 1 2 "Orchestra Baobab Specialist in All Styles". AllMusic.
  26. 1 2 "Orchestra Baobab". Robert Christgau.
  27. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 1. MUZE. p. 412.
  28. ↑ Derdeyn, Stuart (31 Dec 2002). "Orchestra Baobob: Specialist in All Styles". The Province. p. B17.
  29. ↑ Denselow, Robin (6 Sep 2002). "The second coming". Friday. The Guardian. p. 15.
  30. ↑ Honigmann, David (21 Sep 2002). "Specialist in All Styles Compact Choice". Arts. Financial Times. p. 6.
  31. ↑ Brownell, Ginanne (Oct 7, 2002). "Dakar's Superstars". Newsweek. p. 68.
  32. ↑ Varga, George (October 24, 2002). "Brightest Africa – Three prime acts, three prime albums". Entertainment. The San Diego Union-Tribune. p. 7.
  33. ↑ Kot, Greg (15 Dec 2002). "Under pressure from all sides, the music business plays it conservative". Arts & Entertainment. Chicago Tribune. p. 7.1.
  34. ↑ Shuster, Fred (1 Jan 2003). "Music Industry Welcomed Alien Concepts in 2002". Los Angeles Daily News. p. U6.
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