Press from the record label:
Nuru Kane was born and raised in Medina, Dakar, and his distinctive take on Senegalese music explores the connections between the music of North and West Africa – a musical journey across the Sahara. This album captures Nuru’s range of influences, from his blues-led solo songs, reminiscent of Ali Farka Touré, through to the driving gnawa trance that forms the backbone of his pulsating live performances. Unhindered, unrestricted and full of musical surprises, Sigil’s instrumentation is primarily acoustic, but the results are electric.

After learning the bass and guitar, Nuru played in, and sang lead vocals for, various bands in Senegal until his mid-twenties. Relocating to Paris in the late 1990s, a trip to Morocco left him captivated by the rhythms of gnawa. Trance music reputed to have healing powers, gnawa originates with the Gnawa people, Moslem brotherhoods comprised of the descendents of Black Africans who were brought across the Sahara to Marrakech. Nuru mastered the central gnawa instrument, the guimbri (a melodic three-stringed acoustic bass) and formed Bayefall Gnawa with Thierry Fournel (oud , guitar and sanza) and Djeli Makan Sissoko (n’goni and tama). Named after the Baye Fall (a West African Islamic brotherhood) and the gnawa music that have influenced Nuru, together they fuse North and West African influences. Developing a growing following on the Paris club scene, they were invited to perform at the 2004 Festival In The Desert, which features on the BBC film of the event.

Produced by Martin Swan of Mouth Music and recorded in Scotland and Paris, the lyrics of Sigil focus on religious teachings, human emotions, morality, and the impact of colonization and violence. On ‘Toub’ he sings about the courage it takes for a proud man to admit his failings and ‘Colère’ relates to the anger one feels when ‘leaders’ abuse their responsibility. ‘Niane’ and ‘Nabi’ portray Nuru’s hope that everyone will find a better life for their children, without violence or hate. One of the original aims of the album was to fully capture the dynamism of the performances without embellishments. ‘Gorée’ was recorded totally live, in one take, and although Nuru did play electric guitar on a few tracks and plug in a bass on ‘Diarama’, everything else was plucked, banged or sung straight down the microphones.

A blend of the rhythms and colours of traditional music and Oriental and European sounds that have influenced Nuru Kane, Sigil is a testament to an extraordinarily gifted and engaging character. On stage, or in the studio, Nuru Kane is alive, a dynamo, liberated and energized, with music in his every fibre.