Make no mistake, even though 'Pariwaga' may sound like the latest discovery from West Africa, in fact Yapa is a project of four friends (Fabrice Bourgignat, Simon Chenet, Christophe Combet and Xavier Hamon) from the Parisian suburbs, which, in an unusual line up of three guitarists and a percussionist, has been gaining in popularity in the city of light's underground scene. 'Pariwaga' came about when Yapa travelled to the Burkinabe capital Ouagadougou (the album title is a contraction of Paris and Ouagadougou) to play at the Jazz à Ouaga festival. Determined to get the maximum out of their first trip to Africa, they decided to record a handful of tracks for which they collaborated with local artists ranging from Victor Démé ('Pariwaga' appears on his Chapa Blues label), over lesser known names from the Burkinabe scene like Baba Commandant, KPG or Wendlamita Kuka to Djmawi Africa, an Algerian band that was also billed to play at the festival.