A Royal Crime

A Royal Crime is lead by professional guitarist and vocalist Amadou Gaye. You would be surprised when listening to Amadou’s music, that growing up there was not much rock and roll around him. Born in Dakar Senegal, Amadou Gaye was surrounded by African rhythms such as Mbalax, and Afro Cuban. However, his father loved collecting cassettes and records and is the one who introduced him to Western traditions of rock, funk, and soul.

He was drawn to the guitar at an early age and because there were not many Guitar Center’s around, as a child his passion drove him to cut the wires from the inside of bicycle breaks to make guitar strings when his would break. At a young age he went on to tour and record albums with Senegal's most famous bands including Youssou N’Dour, Babamaal, Super Diamono, and Baab Maal Orchestra.

It is impressive that Amadou has taught himself everything he knows by ear, through listening to music for thousands of hours since childhood and fiddling with his guitar to find the notes and patterns. Amadou’s music comes from a lifelong dedication to mastering his art and passion, which he has.

This passion and drive is what gives Amadou a special quality that he brings to his music and especially his guitar playing. He won’t let anything hold him back and you can feel this drive in his solos- they draw you in, bring you on a journey and take you to new depths and heights.

Although his musical roots come from traditions of Africa, he has dedicated the last decade living in NYC, to playing rock, funk, and soul. This diversity in his musical curriculum vitae and experience contributes to Amadou’s intricate, layered, and complex musical writing.

After a year of writing and recording his album, Amadou Gaye was still missing the musicians to help bring it to life. He needed individuals with the ability and the mind to convey the true spirit of his music and he finally found them!

So A Royal Crime was committed.

A Royal Crime is a mixture in more ways than one, with Amadou Gaye from Senegal, Christian Almiron from New York City, Gabe Marshall from Missouri, and Francesco Beccaro from Italy, they came together in where else but the worlds largest melting pot- NYC.

A unique blend of personalities and backgrounds makes A Royal Crime a special experience.
They come from many places and draw their inspiration from multiple genres. A Royal Crime links rock, funk, fusion, with a hint of metal to create an explosive, layered, soulful, complex yet accessible experience that will bring you on a journey. You can be laid back to the funk or rock out to crazy guitar solos that inspire images of Jimi Hendrix.

Under a year old, and currently unsigned to any record label, A Royal Crime has played established music venues in NYC such as:

THE BITTERN END, ARLENE'S GROCERY, SPIKE HILL, NATIONAL UNDERGROUND, SULLIVAN HALL, THE TRASH BAR, ACE OF CLUBS, THE GROOVE, R BAR, BAR EAST, ALPHABET LOUNGE