“Voltaique
Panoramique Vol.1″ contains great unheard tracks from Burkina Faso a true must
have for collectors and music lovers. The release comes with extensive liner
notes and an inlay which features the original 7 inches.
Until
recently not much was known about music from Burkina Faso, formerly called the
Upper Volta. It is still one of West Africa lesser known forms of popular
music. A few years before the country changed its name to Burkina Faso, thanks
to Thomas Sankara’s dream for a new society, Voltaic music emerged as some form
of true cultural revolution. Remote, poor and isolated, Burkina Faso looked to
the orchestras and artists from neighbouring countries such as Mali, The Ivory
Coast, Ghana, Togo and Benin. Located at its northern border, Niger is the only
other West African country whose music stayed as isolated as the music hailing
from Burkina Faso. Most of its bands and artists hail mostly from Ouagadougou
and Bobo-Dioulasso. They infuse some of the rich local traditions, such as
mossi dances or dioula singing, with afro-cuban flavours, American
rhythm’n'blues, French pop or Congolese rumba. Electric guitars and organs
swirl around balafon and solid horn sections. Despite the fact that the 1960′s
and 1970′s Upper Volta lacked a proper recording studio and record pressing
plant, there was a great deal of popular music produced in the country from the
late 1960′s to the early 1980′s, mostly on seven inches.
With
over thirty 7 inches released, Bobo-Dioulasso’s Volta Jazz is the most prolific
of those Voltaic bands. One of their hymns, composed and sung by sax player
Moustapha Maiga is Djougou Malola. Praising Bobo and its inhabitants, this
amazing bolero embodies perfectly the thinness, remoteness and grace of modern
Voltaic music. On the same emotional level, Nogleem Nooma is one of the
loveliest ballads to have come out of Burkina Faso. A short instrumental number
Killa Naa Ye Killa displays the masterful playing of Semporé, perfectly at ease
with his tenor saxophone, his flute and band direction.
Hailing
from Sifarasso in south west Burkina, Richard Seydou Traoré is one of Burkina’s
most elegant musicians, Rassemblement is a tongue in cheek number nodding to
American jerk rhythm with military orders sung in French. A close friend of
Traoré, Jean-Bernard Samboué belonged to the same generation of students coming
of age in the early 1970′s. Aïcha stands certainly as his best song. With the
help of his band, Mange Kondé recorded three singles released under his own
name. Beni Idjananko is reminiscent of the great mandingo songs from Guinea.
Warm and fierce, Woulouni displays some exceptional groove virtues. Born in
Boulsa in 1947, Pierre Sandwidi is one of the most beloved Voltaic stars. One
of his stronger moment, the infectious Yamb Ney Capitale benefits from the
participation of Super Volta musicians. A true highlight of Voltaic music,
Super Volta’s La Guitare de Tinga displays the masterful guitar playing of
Désiré Traoré and the artistic maturity of one of Burkina’s best bands. The
same musicians are to be found on Abdoulaye Cissé’s Jeunesse Wilila. He reached
for fame in 1974 with A Son Magni, one of CVD first 7 inches while the b-side,
L’homme à la Guitare gave him an instant nickname. In 1976, he recorded another
four song session, done live at the Maison du Peuple with a simple Akai tape
stereo recorder. A true masterpiece and a generational hymn, Jeunesse Wilila is
an ode to the empowerment of the youth to build up the country, fifteen years
after its independence. A perfect blend between afro-funk and afro-beat, Deny
tologuelen is the last release of the Volta Discobel, just after owner Master
Boureima’s death. Intense, fresh and full of creativity with vocal
interjections one could think might stem from Jean Rouch’s cult movie Cocorico
Monsieur Poulet, it is a true and unsung masterpiece.
The
Authentique Dafra Star de Bobo-Dioulasso had the opportunity to record two full
albums and a dozen singles, almost released locally on the Music Hall record
label. One of the highlights of the band’s repertoire is Ram Pasonayé, sung
with passion by Siaka ‘Elvis’ Ouattara. In the same league as the Dafra Star,
Echo Del Africa was one of Bobo’s finest bands. Six years later, this band was
able to release their first 7 inch in August 1974 under the brand Discaf, owned
by Antoine D’Albin, one of the band first singers. The next release is the
politically correct 1975, Année De La Femme, sung by bandleader José Thiono-By.
On the b-side, the fierce younger singer Youssou Diarra stole the show with
Yiri Wah, one of the hardest sounding songs from Burkina Faso in the 1970′s.
Tracklisting:
01. Jean
Bernard Samboue – Aicha
02.
Cisse Abdoulaye- Jeunesse Willa
03.
Pierre Sandwidi – Yamb NeY Capitale
04.
Konde Mangue – Woulouni
05.
Konde Mangue – Beni Idjanako
06.
Orchestre Dafra Star – Ram Passomaye
07.
Traore Seydou – Rassemblement
08.
Orchestre Les Vaudou De Flamboyant – Kogo Ni Toulou
09. Ama
Maiga – Deny Tologuelen
10. Echo
Del Africa – Yiri
11.
Idy-O-Idrissa – Bissongo Lebguin’wa
12.
L’harmonie Voltaique – Killa Naa Ye Killa
13.
Orchestre Volta Jazz – Djougou Malola
14.
L’harmonie Voltaique – Noglem Nooma
15.
Orchestre Super Volta De La Capitale – La Guitare De Tinga
The
compilation Various “Voltaique Panoramique Vol.1” (Kindred Spirits) is going to
be released November 15, 2013.
~ grooveattack.com
