Biography
A partnership unites the Haitian roots ensemble Chouk Bwa, fronted by singer and composer Jean Claude "Sambaton" Dorvil, with the operators of Belgian experimental label Ångström Records under the collective name the Ångströmers. Their opening full-length project appeared in 2020 as Vodou Alé, delivering an immersive and fervent array of interlocking drum patterns and devotional singing accented by understated dub treatments alongside powerful electronic bass lines. Following a period of reconnection and European live appearances, the same collective issued its follow-up album Somanti during 2023.
Chouk Bwa, whose name translates from Haitian Creole as “root,” specializes in mizik rasin, or roots music, which draws percussive rhythms and movement directly from traditional voodoo ceremonies together with call-and-response singing. The repertoire seeks to restore and inspire, to honor the Haitian people’s emancipation from colonial domination, and to counter prevailing misconceptions surrounding voodoo and Haitian culture. Previously operating as Chouk Bwa Libète, the ensemble originated in Gonaïves, Haiti, near 2012 and issued its debut recording Se Nou Ki La! through Buda Musique in 2015. Extensive touring across Europe and North America ensued, leading in 2016 to an encounter with Frédéric Alstadt and Nicolas Esterle (aka Ripit) of the Brussels-based Ångström Records imprint and Ångström Mastering studio. Their inaugural joint performance occurred at Café Central in Brussels, where the Belgian pair introduced modular synthesizers and electronic processing to Chouk Bwa’s vigorous drumming and vocals. The resulting single “Electric Mambo” emerged from that event, and the musicians sustained their collaborative performances and recordings. Primarily captured in Brussels, with a single track laid down earlier in Port-au-Prince, the album Vodou Alé reached the public via Swiss imprint Bongo Joe in 2020.
Once pandemic restrictions eased, the musicians reconvened in 2022 for more than two dozen concerts throughout Europe and issued the EPs Ayiti Kongo Dub #1 and #2. A studio documentation of their stage program followed, appearing as the second album Somanti in 2023.
Chouk Bwa, whose name translates from Haitian Creole as “root,” specializes in mizik rasin, or roots music, which draws percussive rhythms and movement directly from traditional voodoo ceremonies together with call-and-response singing. The repertoire seeks to restore and inspire, to honor the Haitian people’s emancipation from colonial domination, and to counter prevailing misconceptions surrounding voodoo and Haitian culture. Previously operating as Chouk Bwa Libète, the ensemble originated in Gonaïves, Haiti, near 2012 and issued its debut recording Se Nou Ki La! through Buda Musique in 2015. Extensive touring across Europe and North America ensued, leading in 2016 to an encounter with Frédéric Alstadt and Nicolas Esterle (aka Ripit) of the Brussels-based Ångström Records imprint and Ångström Mastering studio. Their inaugural joint performance occurred at Café Central in Brussels, where the Belgian pair introduced modular synthesizers and electronic processing to Chouk Bwa’s vigorous drumming and vocals. The resulting single “Electric Mambo” emerged from that event, and the musicians sustained their collaborative performances and recordings. Primarily captured in Brussels, with a single track laid down earlier in Port-au-Prince, the album Vodou Alé reached the public via Swiss imprint Bongo Joe in 2020.
Once pandemic restrictions eased, the musicians reconvened in 2022 for more than two dozen concerts throughout Europe and issued the EPs Ayiti Kongo Dub #1 and #2. A studio documentation of their stage program followed, appearing as the second album Somanti in 2023.
Albums
Singles