It's all about rhythm: life, the body, towns, the earth, etc. The way it's perceived and the way it feels still depends to a large extent on the culture. In Burkina rhythm is rooted in the body, much more so than in Belgium where sadly this rhythmic rapport with the body is cultivated far less. Mastery of rhythm and rhythms is undeniably the Burkinabè' great strength. Percussion in its many earthy forms attests to this feeling for rhythm and the land is something most of them are steeped in from early childhood. In fact the Burkinabè child is being rocked by rhythm before they're even born. You can feel a strong two-way connection between the rhythms they use and everyday activities. And every rhythm has its origins and a significance which often seems to have its roots in the distant past.

Time, that elusive substance, is always escaping us. Fly times by, time flies by. "Europeans have watches, Africans have time", as the old saying goes. Certainly the notion of time is very different in the two countries. In Burkina life seems to go by more slowly than in Belgium, in stark contrast to the dizzying speed with which some traditional rhythms are played. On the outside at least, the Burkinabè appear calmer, less stressed, dare I say, than the folks you're likely to see at break of day on the Brussels metro or stuck in traffic jams. If the Burkinabè sense of time can come as a surprise and be taken to mean lower efficiency, it's no less interesting for that in my eyes, because when you're with someone you're really with them. It's also good for your patience which, as the saying goes, is the mother of wisdom.

The favourite pastime of many Burkinabè men, I always thought, was sitting down in small groups under a tree, drinking tea and shooting the breeze several times a day. And watching the day go by. "Passing the time" is an expression I find strange. To me it conjures up a kind of abandonment of life, forgetting yourself, waiting for death to deliver you from the tedium. Now, once you accept death as the inherent state of all forms of life, you don't allow time to pass by without being fully aware of it. "There is all the time in the world for studying music, but for living there is scarcely any time at all. For living takes place each instant" as John Cage said.

"Le Passe-Temps Vite" is a composition based on a Mandingue rhythm from Mali. It was a slip of the tongue uttered one day by my instrument maker: "I don't know about you, but for me fly times by”. The lapsus prompted my reflection on pastime, on time passing and allowing time to pass by.