Laye Sow band to wow crowds (From Stroud News and Journal)

Laye Sow band to wow crowds

PREMA in Uley kicks off its autumn season with Laye Sow (pronounced Lie So), who wowed Prema on his sell-out appearance last summer with Jelitara Futa, playing live this weekend.

Sow is an extraordinary Senagalese singer and songwriter who has been delighting festival audiences in Europe since 2003.

He is currently touring with his powerful acoustic band and promoting his stunning debut solo album Djamano, which has shaken the roots of World Music.

Laye Sow is a Fula from Pendow - a village near the former slave port of Podor in Northern Senegal, and close to the Mauritanian border.

His clear and penetrating vocal style draws on the long musical tradition of his homeland, which is quite distinctive and sometimes sounds almost Arabic.

In 2004 Sow was invited, with other notable World Music artists, to perform acoustically in a Liverpool Cathedral concert that was broadcast live on Radio Three.

Charlie Gillett also requested a live appearance on his BBC radio show - from 2004's WOMAD festival.

Laye made a second live appearance on Charlie's show in February 2005.

He is one of a new breed of Senegalese musicians who are developing their own style.

In Africa, though, he finds it hard to shake off his past, as he is still well known for his previous work as lead singer with Jelitara Futa - playing the popular 'Mbalax' dance music of Senegal.

He is recognised everywhere he goes in Senegal and The Gambia, as his Mbalax videos are shown several times a day on television.

The Laye Sow Acoustic Band play Prema in Uley on Friday, September 16 at 8pm. Tickets are £8 or £6 concessions and are available from the box office.