ArtistInfo

Burkina Electric

Band, *2007 BF
Electronic, Folk and World

Blending the rhythms and sounds of traditional West African music with 21st-century electronic dance grooves, Burkina Electric is the first electronic music group from Burkina Faso, in the deep interior of West Africa. The group's objective is to bring new concepts to both Burkinabè music and Western club contemporary electronic dance culture by infusing computer based performance with rhythms sounds of traditional instruments and found sounds recorded in Burkina Faso. Burkina Electric enriches the fabric of electronic dance music by using unusual rhythms that are rarely heard and little-known even in much of Africa. This includes ancient rhythms of the Sahel, such as the Mossi peoples' Ouaraba and Ouenega, but also new grooves of their own creation. The band was formed in 2004 when vocalist Maï Lingani (who sings in Moré, Dioula, Bissa, and French), premier guitarist Wende K. Blass, electronicist/VJ Pyrolator (a founding member of Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft and Der Plan), and USA-based drummer/electronicist/composer Lukas Ligeti became close friends as members of Beta Foly, a group that emerged from a workshop led by Ligeti and Pyrolator. The quartet created Burkina Electric for a one-time tour of Austria; for that tour they expanded to a sextet featuring dancers Wendy and Zoko Zoko, who also contribute backing vocals. The collaboration was so successful that they decided to create a lasting arrangement. In 2007 Burkina Electric released the double EP Rêem Tekré on the Ata Tak label, featuring four of the group's songs and remixes by DJ Spooky, Paul de Jong (of The Books), Rupert Huber (of Tosca), Raz Mesinai (Badawi), and Stefan Schneider (of Mapstation / To Rococo Rot). Their debut album, Paspanga, was released in 2010 by the pretigious New York label Cantaloupe Music. Over more than a decade, Burkina Electric have toured internationally and played many important venues and festivals in Germany, Austria, Italy, Belgium, Denmark, Monaco, Burkina Faso, Canada, and across the U.S. In 2016, Lukas Ligeti composed an suite for Burkina Electric and orchestra, that was presented at the Festival of Lights in Leipzig (Germany), in a collaborative performance of the band with the with the MDR Sinfonieorchester, conducted by Kristjan Järvi.

Members

	Lukas Ligeti dr *1965 AT
	Beta Foly
	Mai Lingani voc
	Wende K. Blass g