WOMAD

Daby Balde

From Senegal

Ssshhhh… It’s another great Senegalese singerWhisper it quietly but the Senegalese production line of great vocalists didn’t grind to a halt after it gave the world Youssou N’Dour and Baaba Maal. Take Daby Balde, for instance, a wonderful singer who could well be the best secret you’ve yet to hear. Hailing from Casamance (the southern area of Senegal separated from its northern half by The Gambia), it’s quite clear that Daby has developed in isolation from Dakar, the country’s musical hothouse. The pace of his music is far more relaxed than that of the capital’s often furious mbalax sound, with Daby drawing more on the musical traditions of the Fula people, accordingly welcoming flutes, fiddles and accordions into his sound. This is an artist who, while in receipt of tremendous acclaim back home in West Africa, is ready to add to European perceptions of the region’s music. The secret’s out.