Gombo Salsa
{{Infobox album
| name = Gombo Salsa
| type = studio
| artist = Africando
| cover = Gombo Salsa.jpg
| alt =
| released = 1996
| recorded =
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = Salsa
| length =
| producer = Ibrahima Sylla
| prev_title = Volume 2: Tierra Tradicional
| prev_year = 1994
| next_title = Baloba
| next_year = 1998
}}
Gombo Salsa is an album by the African-Latin-American group Africando.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/africando-mn0000930713/biography|title=Africando Biography, Songs, & Albums|website=AllMusic}}{{cite news |last1=Goddard |first1=John |title=Out of Africa: Twenty-seven Afropop fans follow the beat to its source |work=Ottawa Citizen |date=25 July 1999 |page=C8}} It was released in 1996.{{cite news |title=Gnonnas Pedro et Dj Arafat: Le souvenir de deux grands noms de la musique |work=La Nation |date=13 Aug 2020}}
The group supported the album by playing Lincoln Center's "Expressiones Latinas" concert series.{{cite magazine |last1=Lannert |first1=John |title=Confab to Explore Afro-Latin Link |magazine=Billboard |date=Jul 5, 1997 |volume=109 |issue=27 |page=28}}
Production
The album was produced by Ibrahima Sylla.{{cite news |last1=Steward |first1=Sue |title=Political party-time |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=Jan 25, 1997 |page=A9}} It was the group's first release to include Gnonnas Pedro. The songs were arranged by Boncana Maiga.
Africando covered Tabu Ley Rochereau's "Paquita"; Rochereau sang on the cover.{{cite news |last1=Lusk |first1=Jon |title=Tabu Ley Rochereau |work=The Independent |date=17 Jan 2014 |department=Obituaries |page=52}} Roger Marie Eugene and José Fajardo also contributed to the album.{{cite news |last1=Feist |first1=Daniel |title=Africando Gombo Salsa |work=The Gazette |date=7 Dec 1996 |page=D3}}
Critical reception
{{album ratings
|rev1 = AllMusic
|rev1score = {{rating|4|5}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/gombo-salsa-mw0000593431|title=Gombo Salsa|website=AllMusic}}
|rev2 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
|rev2score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2006 |publisher=MUZE |volume=1 |page=71}}
|rev3 = MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide
|rev3score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite book |title=MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide |date=2000 |publisher=Visible Ink Press |pages=12–13}}
}}
The New York Times wrote: "Two songs with lead vocals by Sekouba Diabate, a jali from Guinea, use the unexpected leaps and modal scales of jali songs, but most of the album resembles classic salsa, discreet yet propulsive. The wild cards are the singers, who mostly follow Cuban and Puerto Rican models but also reveal the gentle, pleading tones of African lead tenors."{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/19/arts/africans-reaffirm-trans-atlantic-ties.html|title=Africans Reaffirm Trans-Atlantic Ties|first=Jon|last=Pareles|date=January 19, 1997|work=The New York Times}} The Gazette deemed it the third best "worldbeat" album of 1996, writing that the "tropical-dance-floor release ... has more salsa energy than your feet will ever need."{{cite news |last1=Feist |first1=Daniel |title=The year in music |work=The Gazette |date=28 Dec 1996 |page=E6}}
The Miami Herald concluded that, "while salsa in North America remains stuck in place, the music by Malian flutist and arranger Boncana Maiga echos tradition but nudges it forward... The best salsa of the '90s is African."{{cite news |last1=Gonzalez |first1=Fernando |title=Africando Gombo Salsa |work=Miami Herald |date=December 6, 1996 |page=22G}} The Star-Ledger lamented that "the band is so high-powered, the drumming and instrumental solos so hot, that the group, singing in the laid-back African style without the intensely rhythmic attack of Latin singers like Celia Cruz or Ruben Blades, are often overshadowed."{{cite news |last1=Spencer |first1=Peter |title='Gombo Salsa', Africando |work=The Star-Ledger |date=January 5, 1997 |department=Spotlight |page=13}}
AllMusic called the album "an instant classic," writing that "the band continues to polish its radiant mixture of classic mambos, sones, boleros, and cha-chas."
Track listing
{{Track listing
| all_writing =
| title1 = Gombo
| length1 =
| title2 = Apolo
| length2 =
| title3 = Diaraf
| length3 =
| title4 = Musica en Vérité
| length4 =
| title5 = Grog Moin
| length5 =
| title6 = Paquita
| length6 =
| title7 = Walo
| length7 =
| title8 = Colombia, mi Corazon
| length8 =
| title9 = Mborin
| length9 =
| title10 = Dagamasi
| length10 =
| title11 = Maral
| length11 =
| title12 = Sakhar
| length12 =
}}