Douhaou by Chebeen Teriya

Chebeen Teriya is a unique 5 piece band lead by singer/multi-instrumentalist Dramane Bakwan, who brings original music from his homeland of Burkina Faso. From a young age, Dramane participated in the sacred musical traditions of the Gourounsi people of Burkina Faso (West Africa). His insatiable appetite for music drove him to study the myriad of rhythms and melodies of ethnic groups throughout the region. A love of country and continent has inspired him to write over one hundred original songs with lyrics in five languages. His work explores social, environmental, and political themes with the aim of inspiring people to take care of one another and the planet they share.

The album Douhaou is their second release on the label. Nevertheless, this album was chronologically written before the EP Ajabro, which was released last year. It was written in 2018 and was the first time we got connected with Chebeen’s music. It is written in the Djula language (spoken in Burkina Faso, Mali and Ivory Coast) and includes nine tracks in an afro-fusion style, sung by the band’s frontman Dramane Bakwan.

Dramane explains: “Douhaou means benediction or blessings and the album is about social issues. Sabary talks about forgiveness as the way forward in life. Diy is about remembering your roots and honouring your culture as well as those of others. Bimogo is about hypocrisy in politics. Pogo-nere is a love song and Africa is for the whole continent, to unify behind our causes.”

CREDITS: All songs written by Aime Bakwan / bass: Francois Hien / Josue Banazaro (guitar) / Jean-Bosco Sorogo (batterie) / Lassina Dembele (djembe) / Jean Eudes Zoungrana (synthesizer) / Aime Bakwan (castagnetes) / Armelie Metta (choeurs) / Recorded in Ouagadugu 2018 / Artwork by Amanda Deibert