Words by Justin Turford

“I went around the world with my voice and my drum.
I went off to find new experiences and new knowledge, and I came back to share them with the people in my village.
Some people took me for a liar.
Nature has created its own poetry: if the lizard doesn't lose its tail, it won't find its way home.
When the truth is told, the head nods alone.
I, Son of Burkina, Oh Children of Belgium, Oh Children of Burkina, come, we're going to tour the World, because not everything that is said may be true, and you have to see the things of this world to believe them.
If I tell you that we burn corpses here?
- You'll say it's not true, that I'm a liar!” - Djiliguiduni (Around the World)

Stripped bare to quite often just his voice and talking drum, Burkina Faso griot (jeli) Kaito Winse follows up his stunning debut album ‘Kaladounia’ with an even more powerfully delivered record, his sonorous, direct vocals expounding ancestral connections and universal stories: stark instrumentation conjuring the physical alongside the metaphysical.

A true communicator and multi-instrumentalist magician, Kaito is an arch collaborator, sharing his technical and artistic talents with a diverse range of artists. Born to a family of griots in northern Burkina Faso in a village called Lankoué, he now resides in Brussels, his multigenerational griot heritage now sharing the stage with artists such as the jazz violinist Ananta Roossens and the experimental noise-punk band Avalanche Kaito, whose abrasive, high velocity thunder melds the aggression of a Dischord band with traditional griot artistry to startling effect. (Check their performance on KEXP here!).

As an ancestor of a long line of griots, Kaito’s role is to maintain and share the traditions and stories of his people - an oral historian who whether he sings in Mooré, the Mande language Samo or French, or lets a solo instrument portray the narrative, Kaito artfully dispenses crafted tales of courage, praise, resilience, nature and spirituality.

‘Reele Bumbou’ translates as ‘having good support’ and over this short but lovely album, Kaito offers six songs of joy in community: playful, educational and poetic, they are also deeply affecting. Not unlike the oversized drama of the early American blues songs from which the West African griot tradition transformed into in the United States, less can be much more when delivered profoundly by a skilled musical communicator.

The album kicks off with ‘Djiligui Duni’, Kaito’s powerful, strident voice resembling an operatic street preacher, a smattering of tama talking drum joining a subtly complex calabash rhythm as he sings of his travels around the world and of those who doubt his truths.

The softly sung ‘An-Kôri’ embodies the bluesy origins I mentioned before. Proverb-heavy lyrics are gently sung-spoken as he expertly plays the mouth bow, it's twanging, filtering melody inherently simple yet building in hypnotic power as he repeats the “An-Kôri” (‘delicious wisdom) refrain.

“Listen to me carefully and take it into your heart!
The strength of the tree is not in its size or majesty, but in its roots!
The elephant is the strongest in the forest! He can knock down shea trees, carry houses and men on his back. But it's the ants that put him to flight – and what a sight that was to see!
It's absolutely delicious! Nonsense is good! Nonsense soup is good! Mischief is fun! But the soup of wisdom, the soup of intelligence, the soup of patience and the soup of good will are really the most delicious, the most delectable, the most de-li-cious!” - An-Kôri (Delicious Wisdom)

Doubling up on the talking drum and the tiny toutlé flute on ‘Waabo’, Kaito gives praise to his elders and ancestors for their blessings on his life’s journey - “The drum and flute evoke the wise men and people of the village. This song is a promise never to forget them, and to return one day” - simultaneously speaking to himself and to the youngsters who will follow him. Energetic and alive, the combination of virtuosic tama, flute and voice is a stirring celebration of his people.

The title track ‘Reele Bumbou’ is a life lesson about the need for good support and dignity in life as nobody from birth until death can do it alone. Simple metallic percussion accompanies his theatrically delivered wisdom, similar to how percussion is used in Chinese opera ensembles, the percussion setting and changing the atmosphere through understated changes in tempo and rhythm. Kaito’s voice is warm and comforting befitting a story to be told to all ages but particularly the young.

Powered by the traditional Djenguéssédjeh village dance rhythm, ‘Zögö Tchiende’ is a pounding call for everyone to “empty your worries”. Kaito sings with great vitality, surely loud and resonant enough to reach across an entire village or even Brussels! The translation unveiling the universal truth that music and dancing is good for the soul.

“Ô Burkinabés, Djenguéssédjeh is fantastic, it makes you want to sing!
Ô peuple belge, Djenguéssédjeh evokes the dance of the nobles, and I ask her to put my voice to it.
Let's empty our worries, let's empty our problems! Play the drum, let's empty our problems!
Let's empty our hatred, let's empty our suffering! Play the flute, let's get rid of our suffering!
Let's empty our illness, let's empty our sadness! Dance to cleanse body and mind!
Let's empty everything, empty everything to the rhythm of the music!”

The final and the only instrumental song on the record - ‘Balade Peule’, is an incredible showcase for Kaito’s mastery of the Peul flute. The song may be wordless but his voice is always present with loud controlled breaths, shrieks and guttural rhythmic phrases, a sort of flute beatboxing technique also heard in various kinds of South American indigenous music and the braver corners of contemporary jazz. A simple drum keeps time as Kaito lets rip, his multiphonic dual voice exhilarating and penetrating.

The importance of our diverse heritages and histories matter in a world seemingly distracted and divided by the whims of the greedy, so records that dare to uphold ancient traditions and share stories easily lost in our fractured times need to be embraced. Kaito Winse’s masterly continuation of Burkinabé griot values can be seen as radical in a time of ephemerality, his passed down proverbial wisdom and millennia old musical learnings, a welcome cutting through of the illusory. 9/10

Released on 21 Feb 2025 on Rebel Up! & Zephryus Records

BUY HERE! https://zephyrusrecords.bandcamp.com/album/reele-bumbou