Musician, singer-songwriter and poet Danyèl Waro was born on May 10, 1955 in Le Tampon, Reunion Island. His father was a former day laborer who bought three hectares of land which he farmed. His family lived in a hut where there was no running water or electricity and they lived nearly in isolation.
Like many Reunionese of his generation, Danyel Waro did not grow up listening to maloya music. This traditional genre from the Indian Ocean has African, Malagasy and Indian roots and had practically disappeared. Officially banned, it only survived in a few families before being rescued by the Reunion Communist Party (PCR) that used to be very popular on the island and which campaigned for the autonomy of this French overseas department.
This traditional music inherited from the days of slavery became a symbol of Reunionese identity. Influenced by his father, a fervent communist activist, the young Danyèl Waro fell in love with maloya music when he attended a concert by Firmin Viry in 1970. Viry later became his mentor.
Alone, Danyèl Waro learned the rhythm and began to make his own percussion instruments. On December 27, 1975, he performed his first maloya concert with a group of young farm workers. In 1976 he was drafted and sent to France to carry out his military service. The young activist refused to wear the uniform. This disobedience led to 22 months in prison. It was in his cell at the Écouves detention center where he wrote his first texts in Creole which were published in 1978 under the title Romans ékri dan la zol an frans.
In 1975-1976, back in Reunion Island, he returned to performing maloya. In 2010, Waro released the double album “Aou Amwin“, winner of France’s prestigious Grand Prix of the Académie Charles Cros). He also received the highly esteemed WOMEX Artist Award, granted by the World Music Expo.
In he released Tinn Tout, his eighth Maloya album.
Discography:
Gafourn (Piros, 1987)
Batarsité (Piros, 1994)
Foutan Fonnkér (Buda Musique, 1999)
Bwarouz (Buda Musique, 2001)
Sominnkér, with Olivier Ker Ourio (Buda Musique, 2003)
Rest’la Maloya: Hommage à Alain Peters (Buda Musique, 2003)
Grin N Syèl (Buda Musique, 2006)
Aou Amwin (Buda Musique, 2010)
Kabar (Buda Musique, 2013)
monmon (Buda Musique, 2017)
Tinn Tout (Buda Musique, 2019)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.