Bobo Yeye: Belle Epoque In Upper Volta

Description

The compilation "Bobo Yéyé: Belle Époque in Upper Volta" reveals the musical effervescence of a country undergoing profound changes between 1970 and 1979. Last year, Victor Démé, one of Burkina Faso's great voices, passed away, leaving us with a final album of the Mandingo and mixed folk-blues that he mastered. The artist was part of the long musical tradition of a country we know too little about. The excellent label Numero Group traces a whole segment of this cultural history with its compilation "Bobo Yéyé: Belle Époque in Upper Volta." Three CDs and 37 songs allow us to discover the richness of a booming music scene. The country was still called Upper Volta, a reminder of a French colonial era despite independence gained in 1960. This was before Thomas Sankara, who renamed the country Burkina Faso (Land of Upright Men) in 1984. In the 60s and 70s, the cultural revolution saw the emergence of a multitude of groups across the country. They were called Volta Jazz, Dafra Star, Echo Del Africa, or Les Imbattables Léopards, and they blended Western, Cuban, and traditional music, like Volta Jazz and its singer Coulibaly Tidiane on "Wêrê Wêrê Magne." The box set is enhanced by the works of photographer Ibrahim Sory Sanlé, who captured all the energy of these years of cultural revolution in the city of Bobo Dioulasso.