A three-time Juno award winner who was discovered by Peter Gabriel's record label in the 1980s will play his African rhythm beats in Coquitlam this month.
It will be Alpha Yaya Diallo's first appearance at the Evergreen Cultural Centre, a place where he and his four-piece band "can give me the opportunity to bring a lot of energy and get people up dancing," he said. "It will be a different kind of music for many people in the audience."
A native of Guinea, West Africa, the self-taught guitarist, singer and songwriter moved to Europe in the mid-1980s and worked with the Fatala group associated with Gabriel's Real World label.
He immigrated to Canada in 1991 after a North American tour and he released his first solo album in 1993, which was nominated for the country's highest music prize. He didn't win but he did score Junos in 1999, 2002 and 2004.
Diallo, who performs in English, French and the Guinean languages of Fulani, Malinke and Sosoxi, is well known on the international festival circuit for his world music: He has played at the WOMAD Festival in England and the Festival d'Angoulem in France.
For the Coquitlam show on Saturday, May 24, the Vancouver resident will play songs from his five albums as well as some new compositions, he said.
Tickets for Alpha Yaya Diallo at $30/$25/$15 are available by contacting the Evergreen Cultural Centre (1205 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam) at 604-927-6555 or visiting evergreenculturalcentre.ca.
