|
ARTICULOS EN INGLÉS
Are
you ready for the French Specials?
A metaphorical world away from Paris's postcard-friendly tourist traps, Barbes
is one of the city's less visited but most fascinating corners, an Arab and
African enclave colourfully reshaping the capital's cultural landscape. WOMAD
favourites Orchestre National De Barbes hail from these streets, as do the
equally wonderful Toubab All Stars. But while ONB looked towards North Africa
for their source material, the All Stars reach out to Jamaica and sub-Saharan
Africa, brilliantly absorbing ska, dancehall and soukous in a thrilling,
impossible-to-resist formula. With a fruity horn section to the fore, several
of the songs from their excellent new record, Mekfoul District, suggest an
exuberant, rench-language version of The Specials - and there can't be too
many more appealing recommendations than that. The Toubab All Stars are a band
made for festivals. And festivals are made for bands like this.
(Biography written by Nige Tassell 2010)
And I chanced upon France's self-proclaimed heirs to The Specials, the Toubab All Stars.
Not only were both of these previously unknown outfits (to me) uproarious good fun, their performances were among the highlights of another great weekend at Charlton Park, Wiltshire.
http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/
With a cheery “bonjour à tous, bonjour à toutes”, David Toubab introduced the Toubab All-Stars over a ska beat; there was comedy simultaneous translation from French to English; the audience were coached in increasingly complicated dances. “Ali Boma Ye” was half-Prince Buster, half-Skatalites, with the saxophonist and trombonist shoehorned into red and blue corners and the crowd chanting a Kinshasa death cry. By their spaghetti western encore, “Hang ‘Em High”, the All-Stars achieved a total knockout.
http://www.ft.com/
Not that WOMAD is all about the headline acts. Not a bit of it. There are uncut jewels lower down the bill - gems like the Toubab All Stars from Paris (imagine a French-language Specials) or crazy Japanese jazzers Soil & Pimp Sessions. The stars of tomorrow are here today. Tell them we sent you …
http://www.ilikemusic.com/
Oh well. Scheduling changes work both ways – another change meant we had earlier managed to catch part of the brilliant French Toubab All Stars whom we would otherwise have missed. The Toubab All Stars really captured their audience – it was hard to get close to the Charlie Gillett Stage as so many people were dancing along to their music. They had a large and very appreciative audience.
http://dorsetbays.wordpress.com/
The Toubab All Stars hail from the same Barbes district of Paris and give a first WOMAD outing to their French-language take on ska, dancehall and soukous.
http://froots.net/
Toubab All Stars, with their infectious blend of ska, reggae beats, dancehall and souks were moved to the Charlie Gillett Stage where their set got the crowd bouncing around in no time. They are known as the French version of The Specials, as their set grew and gained momentum they proved to be another act easily able to engage the crowd and attempted to teach the crowd some complicated French phrases so we they all join in! Perfect festival fun delivered in a get down to this and boogie manner - we all did of course, they left us no choice!
http://www.safeconcerts.com/
Another mighty performance surely awaits. The Toubab All Stars hail from the same Barbes district of Paris and give a first WOMAD outing to their French-language take on ska, dancehall and soukous.
http://www.glasswerk.co.uk/
| 
