The Musical Titans of 1970s Burkina Faso Are Compiled in ‘Bobo Yéyé: Belle Époque in Upper Volta’
Numero Group's compilation 'Bobo Yéyé: Belle Époque in Upper Volta' rounds up several spell-binding tracks from 1970s Burkina Faso.
Before Thomas Sankara, Burkina Faso was The Republic of Upper Volta. During a period of cultural revolution in the ‘60s and ‘70s, the nation witnessed an explosion of new bands and sounds across its large cities.
Centered around the cultural capital of Bobo-Dioulasso, the new compilation Bobo Yéyé: Belle Époque in Upper Volta rounds up several rare and spell-binding tracks from the notable names of the era like Volta Jazz, Dafra Star, Echo Del Africa, and Les Imbattables Léopards.
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Bobo Yéyé: Belle Époque in Upper Volta will be released as a 3-disc, 37-song box set by archival label Numero Group. It will also feature a hardcover book of photographer Sory Sanlé’s striking and intimate documentation of the faces and the scene of 1970s Bobo-Dioulasso.
Listen to our premiere of Volta Jazz’s “Wêrê Wêrê Magne,” which plays like a marriage between Burkina Faso and Cuba, above.
Order Bobo Yéyé: Belle Époque in Upper Volta from Numero Group.
'Bobo Yéyé: Belle Époque in Upper Volta' album cover.