Kaito Winse is looking for the sound of Brussels: 'We are the sound of the city'

Like a contemporary griot, Kaito Winse weaves realities together. From his native village in Burkina Faso to his life in Brussels, where he found open minds to live his musical dream. Solo, with Avalanche Kaito, and now also with the Sound of Brussels Orchestra.

A while ago, Kaito Winse flew to Berlin for a solo set at a festival. His instruments didn't make it out of the plane's belly, but the multi-instrumentalist, who is proficient on the calabash and the mouth bow as well as the peul flute and the tama, a traditional West African drum, did not panic. “My most important instrument is my voice,” explains Winse, who left his native Burkina Faso five years ago and ended up in Brussels. Winse is a griot, a West African storyteller and guardian of the oral tradition, so he was born to sing, like his father and his father before him. “I did that gig without instruments. It was even more intense, even deeper, because all the emotions that the instruments express were now in my voice.”

Winse is multifaceted. He has collaborated on an opera, and is also a dancer and choreographer. With the Brussels punk trio Avalanche Kaito, he clashes West African traditional music with discordant Western rock sounds. Solo, he takes a more traditional course. His second album, Reele Bumbou, draws strength from old stories and sayings from his native village, which he blends with his experiences in the Western world.

The traditional Burkinabese hut on the album cover symbolises (worldly) wisdom as the foundation for a good life. Listen to his hoarse singing in the More language, and it is as if you are standing in the middle of his village, among the griots. “I travel the world and I constantly learn new things,” Winse explains. “I wish to all young people the opportunity to travel and learn. Because when you see something with your own eyes, or touch it with your own hands, it tells you so much more than words can express.”

The fish and the bird

Winse has been making music since childhood. His musical dream propelled him from his village of Lankoué to the capital, Ouagadougou, and then to Europe. “Everyone has dreams. If you grow up in a country that was once ruled by a coloniser, you think that dream lies in the West. Especially as a young person. I didn't finish school because I followed my musical calling early on, but I did hope to finish it here. That was my dream.”

The school of life taught him the most, he says. But there are also little practical things. “Being on time, for example. (Laughs) In my village, time didn't exist at all.” His girlfriend's mother recently came to visit him. Winse was amazed to see that she was absolutely thrilled to find a parking space right in front of the door. “I wouldn't be able to explain that to my fellow villagers; there are hardly any cars there.” (Grins)

Those worlds, there and here, are complete opposites, Winse emphasises. “It's as if a fish were to engage in a discussion with a bird to talk about its problems.” But he is grateful to the gods for the supportive environment he found here, and experiences so much openness. Like now, with the Sound of Brussels Orchestra, a Klarafestival project for which he, along with seven other musicians under the direction of saxophonist and composer Fabrizio Cassol and cellist Adèle Viret, is searching for the sound of Brussels. “Initially I took a wait-and-see approach. I thought it would be something leaning towards classical music, which I would find difficult to adapt to. But the reality was entirely different. The musicians had such open minds, as did Fabrizio and Adèle. It was truly fantastic. I felt like a child being encouraged to learn to walk. It was a door to a new world that swung open for me.”

Walking Stick

What does Brussels sound like? Winse takes a philosophical view. “ We are the sound of Brussels, from our voices to the rumble of the tram. All those things make up the mood of the city, and it's our task as musicians to translate that emotion. In that sense, we are all griots, in a way.”

Winse describes himself as a chameleon; he has learned to adapt to the different worlds he is a part of. “I can take on any colour. Music helps me with that, but it's only a supplement. First and foremost, I want to bring a message of peace. Because which- ever way you look at it, you're always involved in politics. Even as an artist.”

That is the essence of his new album, and of himself as a musician: he wants to be a beacon, a support amidst life's challenges. “While one may laugh at the old man, no one can mock his walking stick,” goes one of those folk wisdoms that Winse translates to music. “Everyone needs such a stick. It can be your work, or your friends. For me, it's music.”

Sound of Brussels Orchestra, 22/3, Klarafestival, klarafestival.be