“African Soul Revolutionary” focuses squarely on Baaba Maal’s prolific eighties career, collecting together three of his seminal and hard-to-find recordings.



Featuring ‘Wango’ (largely considered to be Baaba’s first ‘solo’ album), ‘Taara’ and ‘Jombaajo’ (an amalgamation of tracks from the Wango recording sessions) these albums are all milestones in the career of one of Africa’s most influential musicians.



This 2CD set is the sound of a dynamic young musician daring to electrify traditional Senegalese roots music, melding reggae and funk with the powerful dance rhythm of Mbalax and his Tukulor heritage.



It was this heady mix saw him breakthrough into the Senegalese music mainstream posing a serious challenge to Youssou N’Dour as the county’s leading male artist.



All recorded for legendary African producer and record label boss Ibrahima Sylla in Paris, these albums were the first “hi-tech” recordings of Baaba Maal and his group Dande Lenol.

It was after hearing these recordings that famed African music producer Jumbo Vanrenen took Baaba to Mango/Island, the label which in 1991 launched Baaba’s international career with his smash album ‘Baayo’.



Baaba has never stopped mixing up styles, flirting between more pop-orientated crossover sounds and paired down griot-based roots music:



“African Soul Revolutionary” collects together some of these most memorable early recordings.