Haitian musician Grégory Laforest has spent the last years working in Guinea, building his first solo album Ayiti nan Ginen around encounters with leading figures of the local scene. Out of those sessions comes “FEY”, recorded with Kova Bavogui (guitar), Mamadou Kouyaté (balafon), Claude Saturne (percussion), Moussa Oulare (djembé), Kabassan Diabaté (drums) and Abdoulaye Camara (flute).

“FEY” draws on Haitian folk song traditions while placing them in dialogue with Guinean Mandé music. The balafon and djembé maintain cyclical rhythmic patterns associated with Mandé ensembles, while Laforest’s vocal delivery carries the inflections of Haitian Creole song. Guitar figures move in highlife-like phrasing, and the flute line opens a texture more common to West African griot instrumentation than to Caribbean ensembles.

The album’s title translates as “Haiti in Guinea”, signalling the project’s intent to connect Caribbean and West African lineages. Across its twelve tracks, Laforest addresses youth realities, environmental challenges and the preservation of African musical heritage. First staged as a multidisciplinary performance in Conakry in 2024, Ayiti nan Ginen extends far beyond a record, placing music in dialogue with theatre and movement.

You can stream and listen tot he album HERE