YAWO profile picture

YAWO

ROCK THE VILLAGE! GO WHERE THERE'S NO PATH!

About Me

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As villagers of the world, we believe we all have a story to share with the rest of the village. We hope that the multicultural tales of our music will speak to you in many different ways even if you don't always understand each word. From the Ewe tribe of West Africa to the heartland of America, there's a cry for peace and freedom that can only be heard if we let the music speak for itself!
**************UNE AVENTURE MUSICALE MULTI-CULTURELLE ! Né dans une famille de musiciens bien connus sur la scène Togolaise et africaine et ayant grandi dans une société qu’il appelle « l’intersection des cultures », Yawo Attivor a très tôt développé une passion pour les musiques métisses; les musiques en chantier ! En 1991, il crée avec ses amis de l’Université de Lomé, le MIMI-TOGO(Mouvement International pour les Musiques Innovatrices) qui organisera en collaboration avec les Centres culturels Français, allemand et américain le TAXI JAZZ, premier et unique festival de Jazz du Togo. Apres son départ du Togo en 1992 a la suite de plusieurs troubles politiques, Yawo rejoint le groupe international Up With People (www.upwithpeople.org ) avec lequel il fera une tournée aux Etats-Unis, en Europe et en Asie. En 1997, il collabore avec son cousin Ro Attivor( RoBezz) et Sarah Agbeto dans l’enregistrement d’un album dénommé Doliho. Apres Doliho, Yawo lance une carrière solo avec "Mia du Agbe" (Célébrons la vie !) enregistré en 2002 sur le label « Caveman Records » de son ami Matt Hupton. En octobre 2004, un autre album sera lancé sous le titre de "Take out the fences"(ENLEVEZ LES BARRIERES) devant des centaines de fans au club "Cabooze" de Minneapolis. Avec deux albums a son actif, Yawo est nominé dans la catégorie « Musiques du Monde » du « Minnesota Music Awards »(2003 et 2004). En Mai 2005 il est sélectionné par « American Composers Forum »(le Forum des Compositeurs Americains) pour une bourse McKnight qui lui permettra de faire une tournée américaine : Tampa, New York City, New Haven, Chicago, Seattle, Portland et beaucoup d’autres villes. Yawo prépare actuellement son troisième album solo a Charlottesville, Etat de Virginie, avec le trompettiste américain John D’Earth, professeur a l’Université de Virginie, ami et collaborateur du célèbre musicien Dave Matthews. La sortie de l’album est prévue pour l’automne 2007 !

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 12/16/2006
Band Website: yawo.com
Band Members: Yawo Attivor(bass, acoustic guitar, lead vocals)
Edi Gbordzi(percussion)
Bill Bergmann(Guitar)
Karl Koopman(guitar)
Greg Schutte(drums)
Stephen Kung(trumpet)

YAWO: Take Out The Fences
@ CDBaby.com --

Influences: Fela Anikulapo kuti, Youssou Ndour, Manu Dibango, Steel Pulse, Chinua Achebe, Senghor, Hugo, Miles, Armstrong, Miller, Pastorius, Habib Faye, Hilaire Penda, Wellborn Attivor, Bona, Quincy, A lot of freaky Jazz folks out there, My parents and The multicultural society I grew up in, Santana, Sting, Peter Gabriel, the country of Chile(i fell in love with her), the First Love of my teenage years who took me to the ecole experimentale de musique, all the musicians in the Attivon Family, Up With People, Verlaine, Rimbaud, Pablo Neruda.....
Sounds Like:
Record Label: Caveman Records
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

TWO VIDEOS FROM NEW ALBUM

HEY AMIGOS!!! PLEASE CHECK OUT THE VIDEO CLIPS OF THE NEW VERSION OF AYELEVI AND A NEW BALLAD CALLED DAVI KAFUI...ALL ON YOU TUBE AND ON THIS MYSPACE VILLAGE! COMING ON THE WEST AFRICA RELEASE!
Posted by YAWO on Tue, 04 Mar 2008 03:03:00 PST

BACK TO THE MOTHERLAND/NEW ALBUM

Yawo Attivor has not been back to his native Togo for 10 years! On his holidays trip to the motherland he decided to stay a bit longer( probably until April) to do some recording and a few promo shows...
Posted by YAWO on Sat, 19 Jan 2008 03:37:00 PST

PRISONERS OF RACE

20 YEARS AGO......(FROM THE ISTHMUS ARCHIVES) "The Madison(Wisconsin) school system is used to dealing with kids who come from homes that have exceptional resources", former Madison board of Education...
Posted by YAWO on Tue, 10 Apr 2007 06:43:00 PST

U CAN BUY YAWO'S MUSIC ONLINE!

HELLO! DID YOU KNOW YOU CAN BUY YAWO'S MUSIC ON ITUNES! AND CD BABY?..WE HAVE A LINK TO CDBABY IN OUR "BAND" SECTION ON THIS SITE AND ALSO A LINK TO iTUNES AT THE TOP OF OUR BIO SECTION HERE!!! PLEASE...
Posted by YAWO on Wed, 07 Mar 2007 01:33:00 PST

GO INSTEAD WHERE THERE'S NO PATH!

SOMEONE TOLD US:  Don't go where the path may lead. Go instead where there's no path AND LEAVE A TRAIL....We were born  and grew up at the intersection of so many different cultures! Ewe, Ge...
Posted by YAWO on Mon, 22 Jan 2007 11:51:00 PST

ROCKING THE MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL COMMUTE!

YAWO WAS LIVE ON WCCO(CBS) CH. 4 TV WITH PERCUSSIONIST EDI GBORDZI, 1/5/07. CLICK ON LINK:   http://www.wcco.com/video/[email protected]    ...
Posted by YAWO on Fri, 12 Jan 2007 12:16:00 PST

WALKER ART CENTER WAS OVER CAPACITY!

WE THOUGHT WE WERE IN FOR A QUIET FAMILY EVENT AT THE LEGENDARY WALKER ART CENTER IN MINNEAPOLIS LAST SAT. JAN 6, INSTEAD, THE WHOLE GATHERING WAS TURNED INTO A PARTY WITH 350 FANS AT EACH SHOW(2 SHOW...
Posted by YAWO on Fri, 12 Jan 2007 12:22:00 PST

PHOTOS FROM PARIS(WITH MANU DIBANGO!) CRYSTALPHONIC....

AMIGOS, CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS SLIDE ABOVE! OR YOU CAN GO TO THE PICS SESSION TO SEE VARIOUS OTHER PICTURES FROM MY INTERVIEW AT RADIO AFRICA 1 IN PARIS AND THE RECORDING SESSIONS AT STUDIO CRYSTALPHONI...
Posted by YAWO on Sat, 23 Dec 2006 06:03:00 PST

YAWO ON WCCO(CBS) CH.4 ON 1/5/2007 IN MPLS

MINNEAPOLIS FOLKS! The good news: we'll be on the morning show of a major News media outlet on friday January 5/2007. probably get some exposure... The bad news: I have to wake up at 3:30 AM after pro...
Posted by YAWO on Fri, 22 Dec 2006 03:15:00 PST

THE RHYTHM SEEDS

RHYTHM SEEDS PLANTED IN THIS BABY BOY? PLEASE CHECK OUT THE VIDEO SECTION AND LET ME KNOW IF YOU BELIEVE BABY BOY ERIC(HIS DAD IS AN AMAZING PERCUSSIONIST FROM GHANA) HAS RHYTHMIC SEEDS PLANTED IN HIM...
Posted by YAWO on Wed, 20 Dec 2006 09:37:00 PST