Jahkasa - Enfants Du Pays (Self-published)

Compared to other West African countries like Senegal, Ivory Coast or Mali, we're a lot less informed about the music scene of Burkina Faso. In truth the only Burkinabe artists we were really familiar with were the late Victor Démé, who passed away last year, and Jah Verity.

On 'Enfants Du Pays' the balafon is given a lead role and Jahkasa prefers describing his sound as balafon-reggae (see also the opener of the album).

Apart from his regular band, for 'Enfants Du Pays' Jahkasa also joined forces with David Jno Baptiste aka Ras Jumbo (bass), Vi Avelino (guitar) and Jean Baptiste 'JB' Mundele Ndombé (saxophone), all band members of Tiken Jah Fakoly, who's faced with a serious competitor in this Burkinabe singer.

With Ras Daniel Ray, whom we knew from his collaborations with French band Tu Shung Peng, Jahkasa recorded 'Africa', the only duet on 'Enfants Du Pays'.

Top album by an African budding talent you should definitely keep an eye on!