Songs
Excerpt from "Se nou ki la" (Buda Musique)
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- country:Haiti
- style(s):Rasin, Vodou
- label:not signed
- type:Band
- instrumentation:vocal, percussion
- artist contact:Enthusiast Music
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Hailing from Gonaïves, Haiti, Chouk Bwa Libète are one of the most powerful contemporary voices of Haitian "mizik rasin" — a deeply rooted musical tradition where Vodou rhythms, ancestral songs, dance and spiritual practice meet. Their music is built around drums, call-and-response vocals, dance and the "fè", an iron bell used to lead the different rhythms and invoke the spirits. Raw, hypnotic and fiercely physical, Chouk Bwa’s music carries the deep African heritage of Haiti while remaining firmly rooted in the living culture of the country.
The group’s international breakthrough came in 2015, with the release of their debut album "Se Nou Ki La!" on the prestigious French label Buda Musique. Recorded in 2014 in Petite Rivière Bayonnais, in an open-air shelter in the Haitian countryside, the album was a remarkable document of the group’s musical and spiritual universe. Its release was followed by an extensive first European tour, including Roskilde Festival, Amsterdam Roots and Afrikafestival Hertme, before Chouk Bwa were selected for an official WOMEX showcase in Budapest — a major international recognition for a group coming from outside Haiti’s capital.
The response was immediate. Songlines described "Se Nou Ki La!" as “perhaps the first international release of hardcore Haitian roots music”, while Wall Street International praised Chouk Bwa’s “raw and pure” Haitian roots textures and the “sheer joy” of their performance. Their WOMEX appearance became a defining moment in the group’s international career, opening the way to extensive touring across Europe, North America and Asia.
From 2016 onwards, Chouk Bwa began a new chapter through their collaboration with Brussels-based electronic duo **The Ångströmers**. Rather than adding electronics as a decorative layer, the musicians developed a genuine musical dialogue between Haitian Vodou rhythm and dub, modular synthesis and experimental sound. The result became known as **Chouk Bwa & The Ångströmers**, a radical hybrid in which the traditional percussion and voices remain at the centre while electronic treatments amplify their hypnotic and trance-inducing power.
The collaboration reached a major milestone at the Trans Musicales de Rennes in December 2019. Their performance became one of the defining live moments of the project, presenting the fusion of Haitian ritual music and Belgian electronic experimentation to a major international festival audience. The following year, the collaboration’s first full-length album, "Vodou Alé", was released by Bongo Joe Records.
The partnership with Bongo Joe subsequently developed into a sustained body of work: "Neg Ginen" (2020), "Ayiti Kongo Dub #1" and "Ayiti Kongo Dub #2" (2022), "Somanti" (2023), and "Live at Café OTO" (2025). Together, these releases document an evolving musical language that remains deeply connected to Haitian Vodou while constantly pushing its sonic boundaries.
Their live reputation has grown alongside the recordings. In 2022 and 2023, Chouk Bwa & The Ångströmers performed more than sixty concerts across Europe, culminating in the recording of "Live at Café OTO" in London in October 2023. Their music has been described by Dusted Magazine as “an astonishingly powerful sound that reaches right into the gut, but also lifts free of physical boundaries.”
Essential career milestones
2014 — Recording of "Se Nou Ki La!" in Petite Rivière Bayonnais, Haiti.
April 2015 — "Se Nou Ki La!" released by Buda Musique.
July 2015 — First major European tour: Roskilde Festival, Afrikafestival Hertme, Amsterdam Roots and other European venues.
23 October 2015 — Official WOMEX showcase, Budapest.
2016–2018 — Extensive international touring, including WOMAD, Southbank Centre London, Førde Festival, Rainforest World Music Festival, Savannah Music Festival, Sunfest London Ontario, Vancouver Folk Music Festival, Festival International de Jazz de Montréal and a UK tour.
2018 — First European performances with The Ångströmers, including Siestes Électroniques (Toulouse), Eastern Daze (Ghent) and Explore the North (Leeuwarden).
5 December 2019 — Trans Musicales de Rennes, Hall 8, with The Ångströmers.
May 2020 — "Vodou Alé", first full-length album by Chouk Bwa & The Ångströmers, released by Bongo Joe Records.
2020 — "Neg Ginen" released.
2022 — "Ayiti Kongo Dub #1" and "Ayiti Kongo Dub #2" released; major European touring resumes.
2023** — "Somanti" released by Bongo Joe; more than sixty concerts performed by the project across 2022–23.
16 October 2023 — Live recording at Café OTO, London.
April 2025 — "Live at Café OTO" released, documenting the culmination of the group’s long-running musical collaboration.
Chouk Bwa Libète’s journey is ultimately one of continuity and transformation: from the Vodou-rooted rhythms of Gonaïves to the international stages of WOMEX and Trans Musicales, and from the traditional drum to the modular synthesizer, the group has consistently demonstrated that Haitian ancestral music is not a museum piece but a living, evolving and profoundly contemporary force.