WOMAD

N'Faly Kouyate & Renzo Spiteri

From Guinea, Malta

N'FALY KOUYATE - West African kora master N'faly Kouyaté (Guinea) and Maltese percussionist Renzo Spiteri have teamed up in an exciting fusion of cultures and music. The elegant yet vibrant harp-like sounds of the kora, and the traditional power of the balafon, as played by N'faly Kouyaté, mix with the eclecticism and virtuosity of Renzo Spiteri’s percussions and promise nothing less than a highly charged and unique performance. In January 2006, N’faly and Renzo performed "Chants" in several concerts in Malta, to critical acclaim, as it was the first time a kora player such as N’faly had performed in Malta, and Renzo is well known throughout Malta. N’faly Kouyaté, a charismatic solo performer with his own Belgian based group Dunyakan (The Voice of the World), is also a core member of the Afro Celt Sound System. N’faly has performed on some of the biggest stages of the world music world, such as Summerstage in NY, Eden Project in the UK (WOMAD), various WOMAD festivals ranging from Reading, WOMAD Singapore, WOMADelaide, etc, also at Glastonbury, Cambridge Folk Festival, Dranouter, etc.... With his own band he has also performed at such prestigious festivals as Nuits D’Afrique in Montréal, Couleur Café, Francofolies at Spa, WOMADrid....In upcoming months, N’faly will be performing in South Africa, and also at a number of European festivals. N’faly has also recently been performing with Urban Trad and with Ialma, a Galician-Belgian group. N’faly, who as a true griot or traditional storyteller, loves teaching and telling about his culture and the rich world of the Mandingue, and to this end, he has a school in Brussels, Cadence Mandingue. They teach all manner of African music, dance and percussions. With Dunyakan, who consist of French, Belgian, Angolan, Haitian members, N’faly makes his group’s Malinke meaning, the voice of the world, a veritable truth, as they create a true fusion of traditional and modern sounds, based on the mysteries and beauty of Mandingue music. N’faly’s father once told him never to be afraid of new things, but to always embrace them and to be open to all things, and in the less than ten year period since N’faly has settled in Belgium, he has done just that. In fact, N’faly is joyfully following in the footsteps of his father, seeing his preordained role of griot as both a responsibility and a means of explaining the beauties of the Mandingue culture to the rest of the world. Through his performances, he uses music and storytelling as a way to open doors between different peoples and cultures, striving always to tell about his culture while embracing others, with a profund sense of inclusion rather than exclusion, of unity between cultures and finally, our shared humanity. He also has a nonprofit with the same goal, Namunkanda (the defense of culture). He has performed in many groundbreaking collaborations, such as Anye Ben Kafo, which combined European and West African musicians such as Momo Wandel Soumah (in one of his last performances), Coast to Coast, which mixed diverse Belgian-based musicians to try to create a new, sals based sound, and The World and Manos Hadjidakis, which sent an orchestra of 42 Belgian based musicians, performing classical to African sounds, to perform in Athens to honor Manos Hadjidakis. N’faly himself is currrently incorporating classical sounds into his music, with the addition of violons and cellos, and this promises an exciting new sound for him, and is the realizatio of one of his longstanding dreams. The new music will be debuted over the summer at several concerts, and on his upcoming CD, Tunya (truth). N’faly’s first CD, Kora Grooves from West Africa (ARC Music) was released to critical acclaim, and as one review said (World Music Central): "Kora Grooves from West Africa…is likewise splendidly tight and traditional-leaning...the entire disc is smashing, a potent piece of work from a master clearly at the top of his game." N’faly takes to heart the true meaning of griot, as the blood of society, who hold everything together, very seriously. As is often noted in his performances, the more traditional griot may sit and play, but N’faly is more likely to be dancing around stage with it, joyously performing his beloved music, the epitome of the ancient seamlessly fusing with the modern world, totally encapsulated by the music.More info at www.dunyakan.comRENZO SPITERI - "...Renzo Spiteri was undoubtedly the stand-out artist this year..." Michael Bugeja, The Malta Independent “On one level the music was about essence, taste and sophistication; rather like wine-tasting, but for the advanced musician.” Rathcal, The Belfast Telegraph “...After all, [Renzo Spiteri] can create a sheer mesmerising atmosphere whenever he performs.” Eric Montfort, The Sunday Times of Malta Multi-percussionist Renzo Spiteri is an accomplished solo artiste and session musician, who has played in the most diverse of musical situations – from jazz to classical, fusion and world music. He has participated in various cross-cultural musical exchanges, tours and festivals, with a busy 2005 concert schedule that has seen him perform in diverse venues ranging from the prestigious National Concert Hall in Dublin to the enchanting Festival of the Desert in the Sahara. Renzo’s collaborations have grown over the years and he has shared the stage with other international artistes including Michael Alcorn and Pedro Rebelo (SARC, Queen’s University Belfast), Mousse Ndaiye (West Africa), Mercan Dede/Arkin Allen (Turkey), The Edinburgh String Quartet and Narciso Saul (Argentina). His projects have been presented in various prominent events - “Sounds Unlimited” performed during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta (presented by The British Council), and “Re:Public”, in collaboration with artist Vince Briffa, selected as closing event during Cork 2005 – European Cultural Capital 2005. In contemporary presentations of percussive music, Renzo, together with his ¡JunkFunk! Percussion Band performs original musical pieces making use of sounds orchestrated for industrial ‘raw’ materials. His first solo CD entitled “This Is My Language” was released in 2005. More recently, in January 2006, Renzo Spiteri teamed up with master kora player N’faly Kouyaté (core member of the Afro Celt Sound System) in a dynamic duo performance entitled “Chants” presented to sell-out audiences in Malta. Described as “an amazing fusion that ran like a seamless thread during a two-hour performance” (Albert G. Storace, The Times of Malta), this concert was the premier performance of their ongoing collaboration that will see them on tour later on in 2006. His most recent engagement was a four-week residency period at the China Conservatory of Music in Beijing where he was invited to work on a collaborative project with Chinese musicians from the conservatory. This project was performed in various concert venues in Beijing, and was presented to the Maltese public during the Malta Jazz Festival in July 2006. Renzo and his music have been featured on MTV music channel and BBC radio stations, and as featured music in art exhibitions in Malta, Florence and Tokyo. He has earned international endorsements from world leading instrument companies Toca Percussion and Paiste Cymbals, and is supported by Olimpus Music (Malta). More info at www.renzospiteri.com