Orchestre Dental from Nouakchott is one of the most interesting bands I’ve had the chance to record and definitely the most unique. The music is distinctly modern, but incorporating a broad range of influences from the traditional scales of the Sahara (Moor, Peul, Soninke) to the imported sounds of their youth (Hendrix, Marley).
Ross from SonicAfrica was in Nouakchott last spring, and shot this video of a rehearsal:
The name of this song is Onakhara, which means “let’s learn”. Baabi Sarr sing this song in soninke , and in this song he encourages Mauritanians to learn their native languages.
