NURU KANE
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NURU KANE

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The best kept secret in music

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"THE OBSERVER review"

Phil Meadley/Sunday March 19, 2006

Senegal's soul sensation gets silky

There's a plethora of talented Senegalese singer-songwriters around at the moment, but few have the musical breadth of Nuru Kane. Starting out playing good-time party mbalax (think early Youssou N'Dour) he had a rethink after
visiting Marrakech. The result is trance-like gnawa meets Senegalese soul, meets Malian blues, meets Fela Kuti, with a touch of Bob Marley.

Production-wise the sound is pared down - so no thumping bass lines - but overall it's a funky roots melange with Kane's soulful delivery sounding like a silky hybrid of Marley and Keziah Jones.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/reviews/story/0,,1730064,00.html - The Observer Music Monthly


"FROOTS review"

Nuru Kane has already caused a stir on the concert circuit, following an attention grabbing appearance at Malis Festival In The Desert in 2004, by achieving the almost impossible feat of silencing the chattering classes in Momos Kemia Bar in London. On the evidence of this fascinating (if a tad over-long) collection, its easy to see why. Kane builds up sparse, atmospheric songs of praise and social issues. There’s nothing showy about Nuru’s singing either Ð his voice is communicative and clear with a blues lilt, particularly on Djoloff. The angry, up-tempo Colere will appeal to those who might wonder what an acoustic Tinariwen would sound like, with oud and bass competing for attention with hand-claps and call-and-response vocals. The epic concert favourite Mami brings a hugely promising debut release to an appropriately engaging end. - FROOTS April 06


"DAILY TELEGRAPH review"

Published: 03 March 2006

The young, charismatic, strikingly handsome Senegalese musician Nuru Kane is sitting in the office of his manager Pete Holden's flat in a Bermondsey tower block, looking out over London's grey skyline. He's trying to explain the name of his new album Sigil, but we're having trouble. Kane has only spoken English cohesively for a year, and his French-African accent slides words together.
Then, suddenly, his friendly demeanour gives way to a steely gaze. "Each song I sing on the album is a representation of my life's experiences. Some of these things make me proud, some don't. But with this album, I see a picture of me being proud of who I am, and not afraid to tell people what I think. So Sigil is standing up and looking directly into your neighbour's eyes, and being proud of who you are."
Sigil is a rare treat. Its mix of Senegalese traditional singing, Afro-beat, soul, funk, reggae and Moroccan gnawa transcends boundaries, but is both accessible and intoxicating. Kane has the voice, the charm, the intelligence and the musicality to stand alongside the likes of Amadou and Mariam and his more illustrious Senegalese counterparts.
Piecing together his story is as tricky as stitching together the patchwork clothes worn by followers of his Baye Fall religion. He was born 33 years ago in Dakar, one of six children, real name Papa Nouroudine Kane. The surname is common among the Peul people, formerly a nomadic tribe. He was brought up in the area known as MŽdina-Coura; a thriving district, also the birthplace of Youssou N'Dour.
"In school, I was intelligent," he says proudly. "I was part of a breakdancing team, competing with other areas. One day a friend said, 'Hey, Nuru, do you see all these people here trying to make music?'
We decided to form a band. The day after I built my first guitar, finding a makeshift body and fashioning six strings out of old fishing wire.
"I began to play without any real direction, but noticed that I could get a rhythm. My friends noticed it, too. Two years later my mother bought me my first guitar." It was a bass guitar. Six years later he formed a band, African Children, which Kane describes as "Afro-funk with traditional Senegalese influences. It was music for people who wanted to go out and party."
He listened to European music on the radio and fell in love with the blues, and with Bob Marley and Fela Kuti. "I began to change my style of singing; like European blues, but more funky. When I would hear heavy funk I would sing in a traditional Senegalese style.
I've always liked this kind of bizarre mix."Then Kane decided to move to France. His French wife was homesick and wanted him to help bring up their daughter in Paris. At the start, he found it hard to acclimatise and struggled to find work, having to busk in the Metro. Then he met
some French musicians and formed the band Nixma Ridial (it means "adventurer"), playing the songs he'd written and performed in Senegal.
Although he now had a saxophonist and a tight rhythm-section, he'd not yet found his true direction. That came two years later on a trip to Marrakech."Like all the tourists, I was drawn to Djemaa el-Fna, and I could hear this sound coming from somewhere near the market. I followed it and saw one man playing. I asked him what his instrument was. He said it was a guimbri [a melodic three-string acoustic bass]. I instantly fell in love with it. I was convinced he was Senegalese, playing both Senegalese and Malian rhythms."
Back in Paris, Kane bought a guimbri and practised solidly for two years. He returned to Marrakech, but was told he was still playing incorrectly. "I'd never been to school to learn music. I had to scrap what I'd learnt in two years by listening to tapes and other musicians, and start again."
Kane established himself on the French gnawa scene, attracting the attention of top Moroccan acts such as Nass El Ghiwane and Jil Jilala, who would invite him to play when they toured France. "Now I'm the only West African playing the guimbri," he says. "But I still play in a Senegalese style, as well as the Arabic way. I can adapt the sound to suit both palates, and the gnawa musicians respond because they know its roots are in West Africa. Now I'm the only one who sings in the original language."Kane's break came at Mali's Festival
in the Desert in 2004. He was asked to perform just five days before the event, having been spotted by an organiser at a club in Paris. There wasn't time to put his name on the flyers, but his set on the final day caused a wave of excitement among other performers and assembled BBC types and critics.
The acclaim galvanised him, and soon he formed a new band, Bayefall Gnawa, with the French guitarist Thierry Fournel and the n'goni player Djeli Makan Sissoko. "I love Malian blues, and Ali Farka Toure became my biggest influence, alongside the nomadic Tuareg people.
"It made me think: why don't Africans make real African fusion? All our instruments are traditional, but when we play it sounds electric because you hear funk, blues, reggae and Afro-beat influences. On the album, my producer Martin Swann of Mouth Music helped me realise my goal of making unique African blues from the heart. I think Bayefall is about heart, not pride. In my band we all have different religions, but it's not about religion, it's about getting on as human beings. That is my philosophy." - Daily Telegraph (UK)


Discography

SIGIL, the extraordinary debut album from NURU KANE, has been released in the UK on March14th 2006 and the rest of the world on April 24th 2006 by Riverboat Records/ World Music Network. (TUGCD1041).

Photos

Feeling a bit camera shy

Bio

NURU KANE is an exceptional talent. On stage he is a dynamo, energised and liberated,enthralling and intoxicating. His unique sound and presence is backed by the magnificent BAYEFALL GNAWA band which includes the masterly young
French guitarist and oud player Thierry Fournel,the gregarious Algerian singer and percussionist Abdelkader Tab, the Senegalese kora player Kadialy Kouyate, Mamadou Sarr (Senegal) on calabasse and djembe and Joauad El Garouge (Morocco) on cacabasse, bindi and guimbri. All the band contribute vocals.

Following the release of his debut cd SIGIL in the spring of 2006 Nuru Kane & Bayefall Gnawa took to the road with an extensive tour of the UK followed by dates in Holland, Germany, Portugal , Sweden, France and Morocco.

Whether playing clubs or festivals the response was uniform. From the moment Nuru takes the stage audiences are captivated by his physical presence and disarmed by his warmth, humour and obvious sincereity. With this band every gig is different but what each performance does share is the sense of adventure and musical risk offset by the sheer genius and inventiveness of the musicians and the palpable unity forged between performers and audiences.

The Bayefall Gnawa’s unique line up combines acoustic instruments from West Africa (kora, n’goni, calabasse and djembe) with the cacabas and oud, instruments more commonly used by North African and Arabic musicians. The whole Bayefall Gnawa sound revolves around and responds too Nuru’s beloved guimbri a three stringed acoustic bass that forms the muscular core of the gnawa trance rhythms.

On top of the music sits Nuru’s big golden baritone of a voice, clear strong and captivating he can howl, growl or spread honey as needs insist. This vocal powerhouse is backed by the Bayefall Gnawa’s beautiful chorus and backing vocals and partnered by the Arabic contributions from Kada and Jaouad.

Although Bayefall Gnawa’sinstrumentation is acoustic the sound and energy they generate is electricfying.

Nuru comes from Medina in Dakar , Senegal and was originally a lead dancer in a youth dance troupe. He was well into his mid-teens before he first learnt to play bass guitar and began singing and playing in bands. Local boy Youssou N’dour was, of course, a major influence but Nuru also found himself drawn to the blues, pop, reggae and jazz. He moved to Paris in the late nineties and soon after he took his first trip to Morocco where he heard Gn awa music close up for the first time. He was immediately captivated by the rhythm’s, energy and spontinaity of Gnawa and became wholly entranced by the deep rolling sound of the guimbri. He returned to Europe with a guimbri of his own and quickly joined forces with Thierry Fournel to form a fledgling Bayefall Gnawa.

The band first gained recognition outside of Paris in 2004 when they accepted a last minute invitation to play at Mali’s Festival in the Desert. Although their performance on the last day wasn’t mentioned in the programme (and despite Nuru suffering from a heavy bout of Malaria) they went down a storm and the gig was captured by a BBC film crew who were recording the festival. This success led to an invitation for Nuru to play solo in London and from there many more concerts, both solo and with Bayefall Gnawa, and a record deal with World Music Network quickly followed.

Nuru’s debut album SIGIL was released worldwide in the spring of 2006. It instantly won widespread praise in special ist music magazines, mainstream press, web review pages and amongst world DJ’s worldwide. Hailed by Rolling Stone.com as “ a masterpiece” the album was a “Top of the World” choice in Songlines and described as a “must have” by Amazon’s editors. SIGIL’s success was cemented when promoters, festival organisers, agents, record labels and venue managers from around the world attending the 2006 WOMEX expo in Seville nominated Nuru as “Best Newcomer” for the 2007 BBC 3 Awards for World Music.