Super Diamono

Super Diamono or Super Diamono de Dakar, and later Omar Pene & Super Diamono and Omar Pene & Super Diamono de Dakar, was a ten-member band from Dakar, Senegal. It was formed in 1974 or 1975. Omar Pene was a founding-member, and the group was alternately led by the singers Mamadou Lamine Maïga and Musa Ngum. It started with traditional West African music, but quickly turned to an Afro-Cuban and pop-influenced sound. From 1977 they called their music "Mbalax-Blues". In 1979, Ismaël Lô, a co-founder of the group, rejoined the band as a guitar player, but soon left again for his solo career. Youssou N'Dour was also a member of the band which he joined when he was 15 years old. According to Billboard Magazine, it was Senegal's "first truly local pop style." Many of the former members who later became solo artists made their break-through from this band.
Background.
In 1972, Baïlo Diagne, Senegalese music manager and later manager of Super Diamono was looking for a singer for his group "Kadd Orchestra" (or "Cadd Orchestra")—which consisted of family members such as Cheikh Diange among others. By 1975, Diange's group was complete, and included members of Kadd Orchestra along with other Senegalese groups and musicians such as Omar Pene and Ismael Lô. That new group, which was principally an amalgamation of various bands—came to be known as "Super Diamono" (meaning "generation" in Wolof). Bob Sene (El Hadj "Bob" Sene), a bassist, is credited as the creator of Super Diamono, which in turn showcased the charismatic singers Omar Pene, Ismael Lô and Baaba Maal, then Mamadou Maïga and Moussa Ngom.
Diange's new group mostly consisted of musicians from Tropical Jazz and the Kadd Orchestra consisting mainly of Diagne's own family members. It was so family oriented that the group came to be referred to as the "Diange Ochestra" in its early years. In 1979 under a new name Super Diamono de Dakar, the group released their first album with "Disques Griot" ("Griot Records") titled "Géédy Dayaan". Critics such as Mazzoleni describe the album as "a rather tasteless mixture of rock, reggae, synthetic strings and “African percussion” influences"
In the 1970s and 80s, the band was the biggest band in Senegal–touring throughout West Africa.
After years of working together, members left the group to create their own solo careers or set-up break-off groups such as Lemzo Diamono. Officially, the band broke up in 1991 but reassembled later by Pene. Since its founding, the band and Pene in particular have addressed issues of great interest to the youth, such as unemployment, corruption and inequality.
Former band members.
The band has had various members over the years. Those who left were replaced by new members. The list below are some of the former members (not necessarily serving in the same year(s)).