Ayibobo is a band from New York City, United States that is Jean-Paul Bourelly's side project. Ayibobo is one spelling of a Haitian Creole word that means "amen". MusicHound described the band as combining "Haitian singers and drummers with jazz horns, Bourelly's style, and EU drummer Ju Ju House."
Although the band is from New York, most of the band members are Haitian. The band released their first album Freestyle in 1993, produced by Jean-Paul Bourelly and Kazunori Sugiyama. The album was recorded in New York City from April to May 1993. The Wire magazine said that on the album Bourelly "immersed his wonderfully jarring, new-Hendrix sound in the chants and polyrhythms of non-geographically specific Africa. It’s tightly played and well recorded, occasionally hinting at some new kind of psychedelic funk, but you can't help wishing Bourelly would step out and wail like we know he can." AllMusic called Freestyle "danceable, pan-cultural jazz at its most enjoyable".
Their second album Stone Voudou was released in 2003, also on DIW Records. It is composed of live recordings of a concert spanning five nights performed in August 2001 in Berlin, Germany.
Discography
YearAlbumLabelNotes 1993FreestyleDIW Records 2003 Stone Voudou DIW Records
Band members Lineup (as of 1993) Wilfred "Tido" Lavaud – Lead vocals Chico Boyer – Bass guitar Julius "Ju Ju" House – Drums Gaston "Bonga" Jean-Baptiste – Drums Jean-Paul Bourelly – Guitar Craig Harris – Trombone Vincent Henry – Alto saxophone Rob Robinson – Organ Booker T. – Tenor saxophone Lineup (as of 2003) Chico Boyer – Bass, drums, instruments (vaksin, konè), vocals Muneer B. Fennell – Cello Gaston "Bonga" Jean-Baptiste – Congas, percussion, instruments (vaksin, konè), vocals Jimmy Rock – Congas, percussion, vocals Kenny Martin – Drums Jean-Paul Bourelly – Guitar, drums, vocals Mathias Agbokou – Percussion, vocals Jacques "Doudou" Chancy – Saxophone, percussion, instruments (vaksin, konè), vocals Rosna – Vocals, percussion Lineup (current) Wilfred "Tido" Lavaud – Vocals, guitar Chico Boyer – Bass, percussion Julius "Ju Ju" House – House drums Muneer B. Fennell – Cello Gaston "Bonga" Jean-Baptiste – Vocals, percussion Jimmy Rock – Drums Jean-Paul Bourelly – Guitar, percussion Tido Gaston – Vocals, percussion Jacques "Doudou" Chancy – Alto sax Thurgot Theodat – Alto sax Booker T. – Tenor sax Rosna – Vocals, percussion
References
External links Ayibobo on Jean-Paul Bourelly's website (archived, 2004) Ayibobo on Jean-Paul Bourelly's website (archived, 2025)