***A few years before Upper Volta changed its name to Burkina Faso, thanks to Thomas Sankara's dream of a new society, Voltaic music emerged as some kind of true cultural revolution in the wake of the country's independence in 1960. Popular music that sprung up from Burkina Faso owed much to the music from neighboring countries and to the longing for "cultural authenticity" conveyed through Guinean music. The first two decades of independence saw the upcoming of such orchestras and artists, such as PIERRE SANDWIDI. Nicknamed "the troubadour from the bush", Pierre Sandwidi stands as one of the finest Voltaic artists from the 1970s. He belonged to an unsung elite of Francophone artists such as Francis Bebey, G.G. Vickey, André-Marie Tala, or Mamo Lagbema. His entire released output consists of less than ten 7"s, two LPs, and a bunch of cassettes. Along with his friends Jean-Bernard Samboué, Abdoulaye Cissé, Oger Kaboré, Joseph Salambéré, or Richard Seydou Traoré, he was part of the "vedettes en herbe" movement. Twenty years after he died, this compilation stands as a vibrant tribute to one of West Africa's most outstanding and adamant artists.