Reele Bumbou

This latest release from Burkinabé musician Kaito Winse is a short collection of traditional stories sung and performed on various instruments. Born in the village of Lankoué in the desert region of Sourou in northern Burkina Faso, his is a family of griots: hereditary keepers of oral history across much of West Africa. Readers may be familiar with the kora or ngoni of other griots such as Toumani Diabaté or Bassekou Kouyate; here, Winse combines his voice with calabash, mouth bow, flutes and talking drum. There is a beautiful simplicity to the entirely solo performances of voice and the accompanying instruments on Reele Bumbou; sometimes, one at a time, at others, two instruments join the song. Winse’s voice takes us from the declamatory tones of ‘Djiligui Duni’ through the soft murmurings of ‘An-Kôri’, dramatic yelps and screams on ‘Zögö Tchiende’ and even multi-phonics with flute on the closing ‘Ballade Peul.’