tour of France and Spain in 2004. 2000s to present The band took another break, with some members leaving to pursue various solo projects (i.e., Taffa Cissé composing and playing with Jean-Luc Ponty, for theatrical pieces and clinics; Brahms with Manu Chao, Cheikh producing, composing and arranging with local musicians in Dakar; Henri producing and arranging, as well as managing the Quai des Arts in St. Louis, Senegal; Baye becoming involved planning events at a music center in Saint Germain en Laye, France, while playing with a jazz trio; Souleymane leading a successful solo career in Dakar). In late 2008 and early 2009, the band made a comeback, with concerts in Dakar, Senegal (Just4You, St. Louis Jazz Festival, Iba Mar Diop Stadium) and Burkina Faso. The reunion tour coincided with the re-release of Apartheid on CD and the first-time release of their live performance, the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1991 (Live à Montreux) on CD, and a Best of two-CD set 2A@Z, on which all tracks were entirely remastered. Xalam was working on a new studio CD, and a DVD release of the 29 April 2009 show at Iba Mar Diop Stadium. They continued to tour, with dates in Lebanon and Johannesburg, South Africa in September/October 2009, and in Dakar, where they worked on new concert dates and projects. In April 2010, the 50th Anniversary of the Independence of Senegal was marked by some special concerts/gala evenings for Xalam in Dakar, Saint-Louis, South Africa and Zimbabwe. They returned to Paris in 2013 for some shows at Quai Branly and Baiser Salé. Since then, Xalam has continued to tour and play shows in Africa, and were finally able to release their new CD, Waxati in 2015. Discography Albums Daïda (1975) Ade (1979) Gorée (1983) Africa (1984) (cassette-only release in Senegal) Apartheid (1986) Ndiguël (1987) (cassette-only release in Senegal) Xarit (1988) Gëstú] (1990) Wam Sabindam (1993) Live à Montreux (2008) 2A@Z (2009) (two-CD Best of, remastered) Waxati (2015) References External links Band page on afromix.org site Senegalese jazz ensembles