Donné Roberts’ Malagasy Soul
“He always brings something fresh, something different.”

 Though he grew up in Russia, Donné Roberts is associated with Malagasy Soul, and is often described as a strong musical spirit who is deeply in tune with his acoustic and electric environment. Considered “a natural” by many of his peers, Donné has been credited with “pulling that extra little bit of feeling out of every note”.

“That’s what it’s all about,” says Wayne Charles, who plays with him occasionally in Toronto’s barrelhouse music group Chain Gang. “It’s not about the mechanics of it, it’s about how turned on you are when you do it. BB King will make you cry with just one note – he can play with soul, with heart. That’s the kind of player Donné is.”

 Donné Roberts is a member of the African Guitar Summit, which won the 2005 Juno Award for World Music Album of the Year. His own band Donné Roberts was a staple of the Afrofest pre-launch party held at the Lula Lounge in June 2005. Referring to him as an immense talent who “breathes” the music, Madagascar Slim points to his unique and proficient finger picking guitar style and the intricacy of his playing. Slim is the other half of the formerly “Slim et Donné” duo project.

“He’s got the Malagasitude,” Slim tells me. “Mala what?” I ask. “Malagasitude,” he declares cheerfully. “I just made that up. He’s got that Malagasy groove.”

“There is never a dull moment working with Donné,” he tells me. “He’s a melting pot of ideas, rhythm and influences. He’s very gifted; always re-inventing himself. Give him any good, funky groove – rock, funk, jazz, soukous, salegy – and he’s there. Once he latches on to it, he’s tighter than a bull’s ass in fly time! He can go on for hours.”

According to most of the people I spoke to, he also really knows how to tell a story with the guitar. Julian Fauth, another Chain Gang member, says that even in rehearsal Donné is never just noodling around. “You hear in his solos the progression, the building of tension, the climax – all the elements of a good story. He has a superb imagination.” “He’s an original,” Julian tells me. “He’s capable of inventing music on the spot that sounds like he’s been laboring on for years. He can catch any groove and make something new out of it.” Wayne agrees heartily. “You never get any tired, hackneyed riffs with Donné. There are so many players out there who will settle for sounding like everyone else, just to be on stage. But not Donné. He always brings something fresh, something different.” 

Michael Clifton, a music writer, percussionist and drummer for Chain Gang, knows a thing or two about the industry. “Donné has a knack for cracking the code; for taking two completely disparate art forms and bringing them together somehow. He can bridge the sensibilities of African and blues music very effectively. He makes the innate connection between North American Black music and African, as well.” But it’s more than that. He goes on: “I’ve worked in many different aspects of the music business. I can tell looking at a guitarist when it’s all about them or what they can show off with. But with Donné, there’s no fanfare, no attitude. It’s all about the music”

Music Africa news letter - African Drum - version October 2005,
written by Jesse Mendes

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Artist Profile: Donné Roberts
By Lise Watson

Twas review volume 2 issue 1 July 2005

Several years ago, a tall man with dreads came up to me in the Bamboo Club in Toronto and handed me a tape of his music. He had arrived in Canada from Russia just a few days earlier and he was already going about his business of trying to get his music career happening. I was impressed by his self-assuredness and once I heard the recording, by his melodious voice and guitar playing. After that night, however, we lost touch and it was years later before I ran into Donné Roberts again, the next time in the company of his fellow countryman, Madagascar Slim.

Donné has emerged on Toronto's African music in recent years as a versatile musician, firmly based in his Malagasy roots, yet well-versed in reggae and Western-style rock. He has a beautiful voice and a sensational guitar style, and he writes some catchy and thoughtful tunes. He is an adaptable person, quickly sussing out the situation in which he finds himself, and doing what he must to survive. His musical journey goes back a long way to his days as a child in Madagascar where his family had their own band. Everyone in his family played some instrument or sang and he remembers those days fondly. At the age of eight, Donné's diplomat father decided to take his family to Russia, where he spent most of his life but they also spent several years living in France. The life of a diplomat's son was good in those days before the fall of the Soviet empire. He lived a privileged life for many years studying in French and Russian schools, and learning guitar on the side. After his father passed away, the whole family returned to Madagascar, but soon Donné flew back to Russia to pursue a university degree in English linguistics. Although life was not as grand in post communist Russia, Donné found he had ample opportunities to play with a wide range of musicians in the multi-cultural community including a Nigerian group and a Russian folk group. He soon gained national attention in an award- winning reggae/worldbeat group.

Despite his long absence from his homeland of Madagascar, the Malagasy culture of his youth is never far away. When he came to Canada with his wife, being introduced to Torontoâs own Malagasy master guitarist, Madagascar Slim proved to be a fortuitous meeting. Of getting to know Slim, he says, "He was well-established and willing to take me out on tour with him. I listened to his music and thought, ÎI can do that and why not give it a try.â" They have toured Canada together and played extensively around Toronto. They both participated in the Juno Award winning African Guitar Summit project. He has played several gigs with this talented ensemble, including the recent Live 8 show in Barrie, his front of stage end performance with Neil Young of which has been immortalized on film. But true to his personality, Donne has also launched his own band with his own sound, Dieu Donné (Donné Roberts), which recently played for Music Africa at Lula Lounge.

"My music is Malagasy soul, there are many influences init, of course, but the Malagasy always stays." The song Malembo, which can be found on the African Guitar Summit cd on Global Village label, is becoming a signature piece for Donné. It speaks to men about the respect and love they must show women. Women have played an important role in Donnéâs life, and by all accounts, his wife is one very special lady.

Press Links

http://to-music.ca/cds.htm
http://www.thelivemusicreport.com/clubs/lulaLounge/dieuDonne/dieuDonne.html
http://www.musicafrica.org

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