Preview

Artist newydd syfrdanol o Mauritania, yn canu am berthnasau, ei deulu, rhyddid, ac uwchlaw popeth, ynghylch bod yn gadarnhaol pan fydd pethau'n anodd. Cefnogodd Peter Gabriel ar ei daith Ewropeaidd yn 2004.

Mauritanian born Daby soaked up the language, culture and music of his Soninke people, as well as those of the neighbouring Toucouleur and Wolof. He also began discovering the exotic joys of western pop music, thanks to radio, pirated cassettes and the occasional TV broadcast. The Police, Bob Marley, Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson were powerful formative influences.

After political unrest forced his father to move to Paris, Daby began to explore the vivid common frontiers of jazz and African music. Later, with his own home-studio and equipment, he began to write and arrange songs. He controlled every aspect of the creative process, from composition, to arrangements, to performance and mixing; the result of all this experimentation, exploration and hard graft became his debut album, 'Diam'.

In his gorgeous, contemplative and warm-toned voice, and in a variety of different African languages, Daby sings of relationships, his family, freedom, and above all, of being positive when times are hard. Daby arrived at Peter Gabriel's Real World record label with 'Diam' and rocked everyone's world enough for Peter to take him on his 2004 European tour. Be among the first to see this truly charismatic rising star on his first national UK tour.

"If the idea of an African Nick Drake or Cat Stevens appeals, then Daby Touré is your man." Nigel Williamson, The Times

"I knew little about him until I heard his distant, attractive voice at WOMAD weekend. Touré is a charismatic and likeable performer…" John L Walters, The Guardian

Review

As spring eased into summer, a timely uplifting southern breeze of warm world music was provided by the Mauritanian-born Daby Toure and his scintillating sidemen (the breathtakingly lofty Rody on bass, Salvador on drums, Steph on percussion). The cross-cultural genealogy of his music - his upbringing on the border between Mauritania and Senegal, his subsequent immersion in the musical life of his adopted home, Paris, and his intelligent incorporation of Western jazz, funk, and pop - makes for an overall sound of rare originality. For starters, Daby's a guitarist's guitarist, alternating irresistible driving rhythm work with skilled and complex finger-picking, and he's not averse to bringing into play sequencers and associated gizmos, to gloriously atmospheric effect. Next, he's possessed of a fabulous voice, warm, soulful, reaching and yearning ... and while none of his songs are performed in English, the passion and joy of his performance convey meaning that effortlessly transcends the semantic barrier.

Through a set of evocatively-titled songs - from 'Iris' to 'Hammadi', from 'Mi Malamba' to 'Hassina' via 'Denedecuba' and 'Wadiur', many of them distinguished by subtle and unexpected melodic structure - Daby was admirably underpinned by the ever-complementary bass of Rody and the powerhouse percussion team of Salvador and Steph, and (once Daby'd demanded it of our all-too-reticent audience) the dancefloor was put to thorough use. Our only slight cavil was that the one-set show was a tad on the short side ... it left many wanting lots more at 11.00. Had we known, a solo opening act would have extended proceedings ... still, Daby was just fine, a charismatic closer to our spring season, and he sounded quite unlike anyone we've previously hosted.