Tout-à-Coup Jazz was a musical group formed in the Republic of Upper Volta (today

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...

) in the 1970s, during the military rule of Colonel General

Sangoulé Lamizana Aboubakar Sangoulé Lamizana (31 January 1916 – 26 May 2005) was a Burkinabé military officer who served as the President of Upper Volta (since 1984 renamed Burkina Faso), in power from 3 January 1966, to 25 November 1980. He held the a ...

. In French, '' tout à coup'' is an adverb meaning "suddenly" or "out of the blue". As the name indicates, the band played

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

, and is said to have been relatively popular. The band included Captain Thomas Sankara on guitar and his close friend, Captain Blaise Compaoré, on the microphone. Sankara, a

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, and war veteran, met Blaise Compaoré in 1976 when they were stationed in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. Sankara was taught guitar as a child by Pascal Ouédraogo Kayouré, who called him a "disciplined student" whose real passion was music. In 2015 Abdoulaye Cisse (who noted that Sankara was a skilled musician whereas "Compaoré just sang") stated that while the band had more rehearsals than concerts, every performance was magical. In 1983, Compaoré led a military coup against Major Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo, placing his Sankara as President of Upper Volta. Sankara incorporated his musical experiences into the radical transformation of Voltaic society which he attempted, dubbed the "Democratic and Popular Revolution" (french: Révolution démocratique et populaire). He often entertained official guests by playing the guitar, and during a massive campaign to vaccinate rural children he played in the field. At least once during his time as president, he reunited the band with Compaoré in a surprise appearance, playing in front of an audience. Sankara also wrote an anthem for the renamed Burkina Faso, '' One Sole Night'' (french: Une Seule Nuit). Not only focusing on his own music, he sponsored domestic musicians and hosted foreign ones, among them

Fela Kuti Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti; 15 October 1938 – 2 August 1997), also known as Abami Eda, was a Nigerian musician, bandleader, composer, political activist, and Pan-Africanist. He is regarded as the p ...

, a left-wing Nigerian musician who pioneered Afrobeat, a combination of traditional African music,

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, highlife, and

. Affected by Sankara's death, he wrote "Underground System" as a musical tribute to the only African leader to embrace him and his music. It was a hit when released in 1992. On 15 October 1987, Sankara was killed in a military coup orchestrated by Blaise Compaoré, who succeeded him as President. The band was broken up. Compaoré remained ruler of Burkina Faso for 27 years until he was forced to resign and flee the country following the

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, an event largely inspired by Sankara's legacy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tout-a-Coup Jazz Burkinabé jazz ensembles Musical groups established in the 1970s 1970s establishments in Upper Volta

See also

References