Taffetas is a project put together by two Swiss-French musicians, Marc Liebeskind and Christophe Erard, and Guinean kora player, Ibrahima Galissa. Recently Galissa was replaced by his cousin, Dakarois kora player turned Swiss native, Chérif Nana Cissokho. Burkinabé singer, Fatoumata Dembélé, also recently joined the group adding a permanent vocalist to the mix. (Francesca Cassio does the vocals on today’s track from their first album.)

The mix of guitar, bass, kora and vocals on both their releases is crisp, smart and never overdone. I’ve been listening to their tunes on repeat lately as I tread water in Februrary paperwork at the office.

Incidentally, the group’s new singer, Dembélé, was discovered in 1998 at a music festival in Bobo-Dioulasso, a surprisingly pretty city in Burkina Faso. It’s the country’s second largest city and generally known as its cultural capital. I spent some time there a few years ago. After a long, hot bus ride through semi-desert, Bobo and its tree-lined avenues springs up out of nowhere. A great place to stop if you’re on your way to Ouaga for FESPACO or the SNC.

I’ll most likely be at one of the Taffetas shows on the 28th or 29th of March at the Sattelit in Paris. Find me at the bar and Benn loxo will buy you a round.

Taffetas – Taffetas