Africando sounds like a bridge built of brass and percussion spanning the Atlantic. It is the sophisticated, high-fidelity meeting of New York's tightest salsa session players and the most legendary voices of West Africa. The music is characterized by a massive, warm sound where crisp piano montunos and driving congas provide a foundation for soaring, soulful vocals sung in Wolof, Spanish, and French. It is elegant yet deeply earthy, carrying the weight of history with the lightness of a summer party.
What makes them truly distinctive is the friction and fusion between two worlds. While the rhythm section is locked into a classic Fania-style salsa groove, the vocalists bring a distinctly African melodic sensibility, often utilizing the melismatic, storytelling phrasing of the griot tradition. This creates a sound that feels both familiar to Latin music fans and refreshingly exotic, proving that the roots of the Caribbean and the coast of Senegal are inextricably linked through rhythm.
Start with Gombo Salsa to hear the project at its most cohesive and energetic. It captures the perfect balance of their early mission: reclaiming salsa as an African art form while delivering world-class arrangements that would hold their own in any club from Dakar to Spanish Harlem.
Africando is a musical project formed in 1992 to unite New York–based salsa musicians with Senegalese vocalists. Musicians from other African countries were later included under the name Africando All Stars. Salsa has been a hugely popular style in Central and West Africa since the 1940s to 1950s, and the goal of Africando was to merge salsa rhythms from both sides of the Atlantic, mainly based on the African salsa tradition. Africando was initiated by producer Ibrahima Sylla from Côte d'Ivoire and Malian arranger Boncana Maiga of Fania All-Stars. Some of the musicians initially involved were: Ronnie Baro (of Orquesta Broadway), Pape Seck (ex member of Star Band), Nicholas Menheim (associate of Youssou N'Dour), and Medoune Diallo (formerly with Orchestre Baobab). The first two albums were a big success in Africa and in the World Music scene. Singer Pape Seck died in 1995, and was replaced by Gnonnas Pedro from Benin (who died August 2005) and Ronnie Baró of Orquestra Broadway. For the album Mandali (2000), well known African musicians, such as Tabu Ley Rochereau, Koffi Olomidé, Salif Keita, Sekouba Bambino, Amadou Balaké and Thione Seck were invited. This new constellation led to the new name Africando All Stars. Whilst in the beginning, the songs were Latin American classics sung in wolof language or a mix of wolof and Spanish, newer songs were African popular music classics, redone with Latin rhythms and instrumentation. With both approaches, Africando has been equally successful. For the album Martina (2003) the group name reverted to the name Africando. The singers on this tribute to mothers, sisters, wives and girlfriends include Ismaël Lô from Senegal, and Nyboma and King Kester Emeneya performing Papa Wemba's song "La Référence". Gnonnas Pedro's last recording is the title track of Ketukuba (2006) – he died before the CD was released. The same fate befell Alfredo Rodriguez who arranged 3 tracks on the album. With the emphasis on the links between Cuba and Africa, Ketukuba includes a Latinized version of Franco's "Mario", sung by Madilu System, and Joe King singing "Nina Nina", previously made famous by the Fania All Stars. In 1998, the group covered Aïcha, primarily recorded by Khaled.
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