Psicodelia Afro​-​Cubana de Senegal

In 2019 Ostinato Records marked the 60th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution by releasing this compilation of Star Band de Dakar’s most psychedelic Afro-Cuban tracks, “an ode to their finest hour”. Like many West African bands in the 1960s and 70s, Star Band started out by simply covering Cuban tracks, but quickly evolved by mixing local styles, such as sabar rhythms and later mbalax guitars, with  guajira, salsa, and son. The result is a wonderfully bracing listen, in which founder Ibrahim Kassé and legendary musicians such as Youssou N’Dour and Laba Sosseh dial up the psychedelia as far out as it will go.