Customer Reviews

Pirates Choice

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm not usually given over to tossing superlatives about, but this has got to be one of the best albums ever. I've yet to find a weakness in it. It is an interesting mix and synthesis of styles: Afro-Cuban music, a variety of West African music, and of course jazz.

This CD has some of the most inventive and cool guitar work I've ever heard on it. It is sly, playful, soulful and mellow. The saxophone lumbers and punctuates the music nicely. No one is showing off or going off, they are just making music. The vocals are amazing, particulary the ones in Wolof like "Werente Serigne" a song warning against getting involved in religious conflict. Even the driving songs have an unhuried mellow feel to them. It is this unique synthesis of cultures that makes this album transcend most people's concept of African music. Because it draws on so many sources (but in a completely original way) it somehow sounds familiar eventhough you've heard nothing like it.

Originally this was just a one disc effort, but this reissue has six more cuts that didn't make the original record and they are just as great.

To me this is how music should be, unhurried, talented, fun, yet deep and emotional. If you can capture all of those things, you've truly accomplished something and they surely have. Even more amazing is no overdubbing and no remixing. You are getting the straight cuts. Guitar, sax, bass, drums and vocals have never sounded so fresh.

Listen. I have never owned a car that did not have a copy of Bob Dylan's "Blonde on Blonde" in it. I now will keep a permanent copy of "Pirate's Choice" in my console as well. Two perfect albums for any mood, any time, any company.

You have to let these songs play and give them time. Pay close attention to the guitar solos that kind of float above the rest of the band.

This is a reissue of a 1982 recording. It's been remastered, but don't expect the kind of sound quality you would get from a cd recorded at the same time in a Western country. Dakar's studios just weren't up to Western standards at the time. However, don't let this put you off the album: Yes,the sound is a bit rough, but it sounds natural, and is not unpleasant or annoying at all. The previous issue was just the first cd, plus variant takes of the first two tracks; this issue includes 6 tracks previously-unreleased on cd.
I like cd 1 more than cd 2, but both are very good. The music grows on you. It's relaxing and soothing, but it isn't 'easy listening' type music at all.
The song-writers have obviously been heavily influenced by Cuban music, which was the most popular foreign style in West Africa for decades. The songs are sung in Spanish and French (I know this because I could understand them), and in Wolof and Mandinka (so the liner notes inform me.) The lyrics are not included in the packaging, but a precis of each song's meaning in English is provided, as are a couple of essays.
The music really is wonderful, especially the guitar and sax solos. After becoming interested in African music, I have come to realize that our Western notions of just who the great popular musicians are is ridiculously Euro- and American-centric. We've all seen the lists of the greatest guitarists in the world, for example, - Eric Clapton topping the list - and I'm here to tell you that, really, it's some guy from West Africa or the Congo you've never heard of. Yeah, the sound quality is not there on a lot of this material, but listen to the playing, and the songs themselves, and you will come to wonder, as I have, why anyone bothers listening to the watered-down pap you usually hear on the radio. This cd is an amalgamation of Cuban and West African music, and what is that but the origins of our own popular music? If you like hip-hop, rock, jazz, or blues, for example, you are actually listening to African music. This cd is the real thing.

I knew nothing about the history of this album's lineup, and actually picked it up on a snap decision (rare for me these days) because I thought it looked interesting.

It's not Cu-bop, it's not wholely Senegalese, and it's not Jazz, although it has elements of all three. I don't remember the names of the band members, but the guitarist alone makes the album worth buying. If I had to come up with an analogy, "Pirates Choice" is the "Souvlaki" of world music.

Jimmy Buffett would kill to make an album this good. Absolutely essential.

Just a quick note until I hear the whole thing--I am familiar with the content of this cd from the import lp I encountered a decade ago, I'll get the cd which contains a second cd of new material as soon as I can. I want to say that it has remained my favorite african recording of all time and also doubles as a favorite "cuban" record, one which impresses my latin-american record-collecting father-in-law and should impress anyone with ears. the rhythms and vocals achieve an hypnotic groove and just float inevitably along like an inspired dream. pure and simple musical mastery, somewhat superior to the slightly more poppy "bamba" (not that "bamba" is bad, but I consider this "pirates" record the actual real deal). Hesitate not!

People always name Pirate's Choice as Baobab's best offering. While I agree that it is a high ranking entry in any West African Top Ten list, the CD that is truly worth seeking out is Bamba, a rerelease of two Baobab LPs from 1980-81. While it draws on many of the same Latin influences as Pirate, it is a unique, often hypnotic jam session - the opening title track is absolutely trippy. Astonishing vocals, mesmerizing guitar solos throughout, with subtle horns backing up the beat. Pirate's Choice is great, but not this great. Four stars only because Bamba deserves the fifth.

above everything else, the guitar (and sax) solo's are spellbinding. They are among the best I have ever heard without and ounce of pretention or flash

Oh, come on guys! The recording quality may be poor, there might be greater songs in other records, whatever, but the music on this CD is just unique. Specially "Utrus horas", a master-piece of unique mesmerising qualities, something out of this world, powerful, unfaked, a poignant rythm that makes you wish you had been in the Baobab cafe that day.

If I could give this album a higher rating I would. I heard a piece on NPR one day driving home and I thought I like this band, wonder if the album is any good. So I purchased it and it is one of my favorite mellow albums to listen to. If you like world music this is a must have CD.

I was introduced to Orchestra Baobab with the Specialist In All Styles (released 2002) and was blown away. It was tight, punchy and full of warm grooves. Nearly every song on it amazed me. After hearing that one, I kept hearing that Pirates Choice was the holy grail for this band. I bought it, listened thoughtfully to it and don't get it. Is it good? Absolutely. Is it great? Not to me, but that's me. It's a laid back recording session so it lacks the tightness and snap of Specialist. If you too were intro'ed to OB by Specialist, be prepared for a much different sound on this one.