REGISTER     LOGIN  
OK
ALL ARTISTS

Africa  > Reunion > Danyel Waro



// Danyel Waro Listen to Danyel Waro's albums

VIDEOSPORTRAITREVIEWSINTERVIEWSREPORTSMP3PHOTOSAGENDA

Danyel Waro
© D.R.

Aou Amwin


Aou Amwin

Poet/musician/activist Danyel Waro hails from Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean where he is a celebrated champion of Creole culture and maloya, the traditional music and dance. A fusion of Malagasy and African rhythms which originated on the sugar plantations, today maloya is the national sound of Réunion and in 2009 was included on Unesco’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list.

 

In Waro’s hands maloya is also a symbol of resistance, as it became the focus for the independence movement fighting against continued dominance by French administrators. Imprisoned for two years for refusing to do his military service, Waro emerged as a cultural leader, playing a music that was once banned by the government. Not one for the limelight, Waro divides his time between farming, making instruments and the stage. The man South African rapper Tumi describes as his “favourite artist in the whole world” is the winner of the Womex Artist Award 2010 – Danyel Waro will be presented with the prize in Copenhagen later this month.

 

The days when the voice of maloya refused to allow his free song poems to be captured on a recording are long gone. Since Gafourn, a cassette released in 1987, Waro has come round to the idea of leaving audio traces of his humanist, poetic vigour. To see a double album arrive today, almost two hours of Danyel Waro in one go, is incredible, and something we never dared hope for.

 

“An artist of his stature absolutely deserves a double album,” states Philippe Conrath, director of the Africolor Festival, the Paris label Cobalt and Danyel Waro’s producer. “The way we recorded, at Danyel’s family home, meant that the sessions happened in a totally relaxed, free and unpressured environment. And he had so much material to put on this record! ‘Salim’ for example is a long story he wrote for one of his friends Erik Salim Vuillaume, who died of leukaemia in 2001. Just for that one song we needed 20 minutes. And we also wanted to include the collaborations with A Filetta, his Corsican soul brothers, and to invite his great friend, the South African rapper Tumi for a reprise of the track ‘Mandela’, which Waro first recorded on Bwarouz (2002).”

 

Waro’s voice is fascinating, and sounds like no-one else. It’s both intense and fragile and what comes through is his extraordinary talent as a story-teller, his magnetic power as a singer and his gift for melody. This double album is also interesting as it’s a new departure in terms of its musical openness and diversity of flavours. It combines the subtle use of takamba strings and bobre, the musical bow which is a cousin to the berimbau, with the polyphonic layers which are the key to Danyel Waro’s sound. Essential and stunning.

 

Patrick Labesse

 

Danyel Waro - Aou Amwin is out on Cobalt Records




  (6 votes)

Comments  

Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Stumble It Email This More...





// ALSO

ADS



Les blogs
Mondomix

see all blogs



Last news on Mondomix
All Mondomix sections
Mondomix blogs
Last updates
Newsletters


Services
Community
RSS
Practical infos
Mondomix is a member of
The Mondomix's experience on


Search by continent


Search by name


Editions


Mondomix - The essential online resource for worldwide music and culture. Music, cinema, literature, society, travel, events, reports, artists. Experience the world with Mondomix.
All rights reserved. Copy prohibited © 1998 - 2010   Mondomix Media

Culture is not a luxury, Mondomix needs your support!

Make a donation