The will of the Boli group and its singer Anouar Aït Baouna, is to renew the strong cultural and musical ties that the Gnawas have with sub-Saharan Africa and more particularly with the Fulani. By trying to mend the cut caused by the various incidents of history, he aims to recall the common origin of the different African ethnic groups through a musical language that transcends dialects and languages.

“Boli” also means “cracks” in Fulani, like those that appear on the ground and which are due to the shrinkage of clay during periods of drought. This name highlights the schism between the Gnawa and the Fulani.

This formation seeks through its compositions, its arrangements of ancestral songs and its musical vocabulary to be part of our time while paying homage to this heritage. Improvisation is a big part of it and the different ways of playing and tradition mingle with harmonies from jazz in particular and a more current musical structure.

This crossbreeding is found even in the formation where traditional instruments such as the Fulani flute, the guembri or the karkabous rub shoulders with the electric guitar and its effects, the drums...

The texts, too, call for the unity and renewal of African culture by drawing lessons from the wisdom, foresight, sobriety and resilience of the ancestors to

face the challenges facing this continent, namely the fight against desertification, climate change and mass immigration. The group is currently finishing the recording of an album with the Kitchen Studio and Yvan Bing which will be released at the end of 2022 and which will allow the greatest number of people to discover this music and this project.