The Original Sound of Burkina Faso

Bordered by Mali, the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Niger, and with a population that spans some 60 different ethnic groups, it's not hard to see why Burkina Faso (or Upper Volta as it was known until 1984), has never really developed a significant and identifiable national musical style of its own. Yet these 16 tracks from the vaults by nine different Burkinabé acts prove that historically there has been no lack of talent. A quarter of the tracks feature the voice of Amadou Balaké, the country's biggest star in the 1970s and a master of everything from Orchestra Baobab-like Afro-Cuban stylings (‘Whisky et Coca Cola’) to Afrobeat (‘Bar Konon Mousso’). Balaké also sang early in his career with Orchestra Super Volta, who are heard here twice, first with the soulful Abdoulaye Cissé on vocals and then with Pierre Sandwidi. Both tracks sound very like Mali's Rail Band, of similar vintage. There's some inventive Mande-Cuban dance fusion from Tidiane Coulibaly and Dafra Star, with some thrillingly improvised duetting between electric guitar and balafon and a couple of fine 70s tracks by the guitarist Mangue Kondé playing with the bands Le Super Mandé and L'orchestre Les 5 Consuls. This is crate-digging at its most rewarding.