Daby Toure
Paris, Île-de-France, France
Music
Press
It opens with a wonderfully heady song where his intensely melodious voice takes off into dizzily high realms. His sound has lilting warmth, and his guitar-picking is whip-crackingly precise. The words may be incomprehensible to most European listeners, but that doesn't matter a jot. "My songs are about giving people an emotion, making them feel good, just for a few moments," Touré says.
- Financial Times (UK)
These are perfect examples of what Touré does best-short, sweet, breezy mid-tempo pop songs based around his warm mellifluous voice and refreshingly clean acoustic guitar playing. It's all there again on the jaunty Setal and Bibou, which is filled out with some chunky reggae-tinged electric guitar.
- The Scotsman (UK)
The Mauritanian singer Daby Toure has confessed to a love of the Beatles and the Police, and there are echoes of both in his second album, whether in the staggering "Roxanne" rhythm of "Yakaare" or the "Blackbird"-style acoustic picking at the start of "Am". Apart from the yelping intro to "Kebaluso", Stereo Spirit is determinedly easy listening, the relentless positivity of the lyrics mirrored in the relaxed groove of the music. Toure plays everything himself, foregrounding his gentle guitar.
- Songlines (UK)
Emerging Mauritanian star Daby Toure performed in a more accessible, international style, with
blunter rhythms and a powerful bass, and more than a few hints of reggae. During an
impressive set he ignited the crowd, returning drenched in sweat for a triumphant encore.
- Boston Globe USA
Touré's music evokes modern and traditional modes of life: It's as influenced by the sounds
coming out of today's Senegal, Mali, Paris and New York as it is falored by the traditional music
of his native Mauritania. Gentle-voiced and sweet-spirited, Touré, teaming up with electronic
musician/producer Cyrille Dufay, creates a thoroughly charming record. Standout tracks include
the lilting 'Iris', the R& B tinged 'Bary' and the hypnotically rhythmic 'Dendecuba'...Touré is a rising
star."
- Billboard / USA
Most top West African singers, such as Salif Keita and Youssou N’Dour, have a soulful, wailing
tone that owes much to the powerful Islamic influence in the region. Brought up in Senegal,
Mauritania and Paris, Daby Touré has a much gentler voice with the kind of relaxed lilt that is
more usually associated with the Western troubadour tradition. Yet he also has strong African
musical roots, and these contrasting influences combine on a lovely debut album that is made
even more accessible by the sparkling production of the French electronic wizard Cyrille Dufay.
To Touré’s easy-on-the-ear melodies and winning hooks, Dufay adds layers of sparkling
acoustic guitars, nonAfrican percussion and subtle electronic beats and loops. It’s all done
without compromising the authenticity of Touré’s African origins to create a crossover album of
classy Afro-pop. If the idea of an African Nick Drake or Cat Stevens appeals, then Daby Touré is
your man.
- The Times / UK
Daby writes his own material, and is a virtual one-man band, layering up all of his own guitar,
bass and percussion parts. His voice is wide-ranging. It's bass parts trimmed with a variety of
subtle mixing desk effects, the higher tones left free to float with a pure and clear natural sound.
Touré's basslines are the beating heart of each song, flanked by detailed percussion, with
delicate acoustic guitar taking care of the crucial verse frameworks. Touré has already
supported Peter Gabriel on the Still Growing Up tour, and also appeared on the main stage at
WOMAD 2004 in Reading. His approach is perfect for global music crossover success,
managing to retain its rootsy qualities at the same time as forging ahead with an indivudualist
singer-songwriter pop-fusion.
- BBC
A gripping performance,... diverse set with warm lilting voice , eccentric percussion, solid bass
and guitar that beckoned you to boogie liftiing you up to another Womad high.
- Customer Review / clare Jephcott / United Kingdom
Recorded: Aug. 09, 2009
Venue: Regina Folk Festival, Regina, SK
Genres: Pop/Rock, World
Daby Touré is a world class artist whose music crosses geographical boundaries, language and culture. Daby's life started out in Mauritania, where the Sahara divides northern Arabic Africa with southern black Africa. He grew up surrounded by music and multiple languages and cultures - Toucouleur, Fulbe, Soninké and Wolof. Paris has been his home for many years, so intermingled with those childhood influences are strong European elements as well.
Daby shines the light on all of these diverse influences in his songs, which are sung in both French and English as well the African languages of his childhood. Daby is an artist on the Real World label, and on this concert he's joined by a wonderful rhythm section from New York - bass player Fima Ephron and Louis Cato on drums. - cbc.Canada
Discography
Laddé, by Touré Touré
Diam by Daby Touré
Stereo Spirit by Daby Touré
Photos
Bio
Between the rain-swept streets of Paris and the swirling sands of the Sahara, there lies a voice that is neither and both of these music-soaked places. Musician Daby Touré, son of the African desert and child of a Parisian musical upbringing, has created new boundaries and categories that go beyond territory, ethnicity or birthright. He is simply, Daby.
This musicians life started out in Mauritania, where the Sahara, the worlds largest hot desert, divides northern Arabic Africa with southern black Africa. There, in the village of Djeole on the banks of the verdant River Senegal, he grew up surrounded by music and a feast of languages and cultures. Toucouleur, Fulbe, Soninke and Wolof mingled together, helping to give Daby the richest memories of his life.
But his life changed dramatically, and with wide-reaching consequences. When his father- a musician- was invited by the Afro-pop group Touré Kunda to join them in Paris, he took his 18-year-old son along with him. He hoped that Daby would take to his studies and earn the qualifications which were going to lead his son already showing signs of favouring music over his other studies- along a less onerous professional road than he himself had taken.
But, explains Daby, it wasnt the right path for me. I was always absent from school because I was actually in the studio practising music with my friends. They called my father and told him and he was really disappointed. He decided to stop helping me then, and all I could say to him was, thats not my way, I want to live, I want to live my passion.
After a successful album release with his cousin Omar, with whom he formed the band Touré Touré, Daby immersed himself in the Paris jazz scene. And after many years of lone experimenting, playing and recording, he released the magical solo album Diam, a masterpiece of music which successfully nudged, pushed and then broke down the sides of the box he felt he, a musician born in Mauritania, had been put in. This remarkably sensitive but energized and engaging performer had emerged with full force onto the European music scene, as a musician both rooted in his own cultures as well as freely exploring the spaces between, creating something entirely new and breathtakingly fresh.
I was born in Africa, agrees Daby. And all the traditional music I picked up when I was young is still in me and that doesnt change. But in my music I am still searching, and mixing, and trying things and thats what I am doing now. I have travelled far from the traditional or folkloric music of my country.
Stereo Spirit is Dabys second release from Real World Records. It is both a message to the world, to those who are sleeping and who need to wake up, as well as an attempt to offer some kind of musical solace in these troubled times.
My songs are about giving people an emotion, making them feel good, just for a few moments. What Im trying to do is to give people the best moment possible whilst listening to this album, even if they dont understand what I am talking about because Im not speaking a language they understand.
Dabys lyrics are a complex interplay between languages, both European and African. As well as French and English, he mixes Wolof with Soninké and Pulaar, the languages of his childhood that represent the different cultures that abound on the African continent.
When you travel in Africa, you understand that people are really different, that there are so many different cultures and mindsets. And sometimes that can really complicate things because we dont speak the same language. What I am trying to do in this album is to say to people, look, we have to speak the same language, for our future and for the future of our children. We have to forget our differences so we can take steps towards becoming more powerful, more united as Africans for when we want to talk to the rest of the world.
The lyrics of Stereo Spirit travel through these complex human stories and relationships, from Kebaluso in which he speaks of a countrys need for unity, to Banta where he sings of the pain of separation from someone you love.
In the song Yakaare, I am talking about hope and about the children of the world. When you see kids on the streets, you can see the future of these countries, so I am saying to these children, maybe you and future generations can make some changes and do something more positive in the world than we have been able to do.
With his rich voice soaring through the songs that are sometimes only accompanied by the punctuated tapping of his fingers on the fret board, it is easy to see that this latest work - created at the Real World Studios over a three-month period in 2006 - is a one-man work of serious personal expression.
I made this album alone, and like Diam I played all the instruments myself. Its much easier to say what you want to say when you know exactly what you want, he says, adding that ma
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