SANDRO JOYEUX SINGER

Alexandre Joyeux Paganini nasce a Parigi nel 1978, mamma francese e papà italiano. Fin dall’infanzia sviluppa un legame viscerale con la musica. A nove anni entra nel Coro della Radio Nazionale Francese e attraversa la Francia cantando dai gregoriani alla contemporanea. Studia solfeggio e trombone al Conservatorio del IX distretto di Parigi. A sedici anni, trascinato dalla vita di strada, abbandona la scuola e inizia a suonare la chitarra. Diviso tra l’Italia e la Francia è sempre in viaggio, in autostop, in vespa o nascosto nei treni. Conosce a memoria tutte le stazioni di servizio e può contare su una rete di camionisti che non lo lasciano mai a piedi. Nel ‘98 entra nei King’s Roots, band reggae con cui suona nei locali di Parigi e dintorni. Dopo tre anni la band si scioglie e Sandro si rimette in viaggio. Il Marocco lo segna profondamente: assiste a “trance Gnawa”, impara le prime parole in arabo ma la grande scoperta è l’Africa nera che irrompe con Boubacar Traore. Trovare gli spartiti è impossibile, così Sandro studia ad orecchio il repertorio del cantautore maliano e inizia ad appassionarsi alla musica del West Africa, a familiarizzare con i dialetti africani. Nel 2004 si trasferisce a Lille e fonda i 100Dromadaires, band dalle influenze reggae e afro con cui apre i concerti di Omar Sosa e di Seun Kuti & Egypt 80. Alla fine del 2009 arriva a Roma, dove in poco tempo diventa un piccolo caso, i concerti arrivano uno dopo l’altro. È ospite di Adriano Bono al festival Roma Incontra il Mondo, suona come spalla agli Steel Pulse al Gusto Dopa al Sole, apre il concerto di Petra Magoni e Ferruccio Spinetti alla finalissima nazionale di Martelive. La sua musica coinvolge musicisti come: Baba Sissoko, Daniele Sepe, Emanuele Brignola, Awa Ly, Pape Kanoute, Madya Diebate, Piero Monterisi, Adriano Bono, Roberto Angelini, Ilaria Graziano, che lo accompagnano spesso dal vivo. Inizia la sua collaborazione con l’etichetta Mr Few. Nel 2011 partecipa come attore musicista,/interpretando se stesso, nel film Cosimo e Nicole, con il brano “Sur Les rives”, (inserito nella colonna sonora del film prodotta da Sugar Music). È l’anno dell’Antischiavitour, il suo viaggio musicale in giro per le campagne d’Italia a sostegno dei migranti: dalla baraccopoli del Gran Ghetto di Foggia al campo di Rosarno fino a Saluzzo, in provincia di Cuneo. Nell’Ottobre del 2012 termina la lavorazione del suo primo disco – Sandro Joyeux - prodotto dalla Mr.Few. Il disco, registrato tra Napoli, Lille e Roma, è un omaggio all’Africa. Partecipano al disco 13 musicisti provenienti da cinque diversi paesi: tra questi Daniele Sepe, Madya Diebaté alla kora, Moussa Traore alle percussioni e la voce di Ilaria Graziano. A dicembre è voce e chitarra nella band di Toni Esposito per le sei serate napoletane del tour di Pino Daniele -Tutta n’ata storia - esperienza che ripeterà anche il Natale successivo. Colpito dal suo “timbro vocale, dal suo percorso artistico alternativo, e la sua sensibilità” Eugenio Bennato lo vuole come voce solista insieme a Pietra Montecorvino e alla soprano egiziana Fatma Said per la sua opera “L’amore Muove la Luna”, in scena al Teatro San Carlo di Napoli nel Febbraio 2013. Nel 2014 partecipa al festival Suona Francese, incide il brano “Nun me piace” nel disco “Esagerata” di Pietra Montecorvino. In Estate suona ai Festival Musicastrada, Ariano Folk Fest e Forum Universale delle Culture a Napoli. Al momento lavora al nuovo disco, un Ep tematico che sarà anticipato dall’uscita del singolo “Elmando” prevista per il 24 Marzo 2015. English Alexandre Joyeux Paganini was born in Paris in 1978, from a French mother and a Italian father. During his childhood a hearing problem obligates him to various operations but, despite this inconvenience, he develops a visceral bond with music. When he is 7-years-old, he is a “scugnizzo” (street urchin) free to wander alone in Paris till the dead of night, in fact he knows by heart the Metro map and all the libraries where he can listen to music without paying. When he is 10-years-old he joins the French National Radio Choir and travels through France singing from Gregorian chants to contemporary music, in Russian, German, Latin, and Italian. He enrolls at the conservatory of the Paris IX Arrondissement to study solfeggio and trombone, but when he learns the first chords he falls in love with guitar. When he is 16-years-old, attracted by street life, he drops out of school. On the day of his eighteenth birthday, he leaves for Firenze with just one purpose in mind: meet up with his father for the first time. He stays there for some months, working as manual laborer or pony express, and learns Italian. He is always travelling between Italy and France, from Firenze to Paris and vice-versa by hitchhiking, Vespa or train (without tickets). He knows by heart all service stations, and he can relies on various truckers who always give him a lift. In 1998 he joins the King’s Roots, a reggae band with which he plays in the clubs of Paris and surroundings. After three years the band splits up and Sandro begins to travel again. Morocco leaves a deep mark on him: he attends “Gnawa trance”, meets Moroccan spiders and musicians, starts to learn Arabic. Then, the great discovery: black Africa bursts into his life with Boubacar Traore. Finding his scores is impossible, so Sandro studies by ear the repertoire of the Malian songwriter and begins to getting into West Africa music: Salif Keita, Oumou Sangare, Youssou N’dour, Amadou e Mariam. Then, he comes back to Paris and starts to hang out at African quarters. Sandro makes ends meet singing in the streets of various European cities, his repertoire ranges from Bob Marley to French singers like Gainsbourg, Nougaro, Brassens. In these busker years, Sandro improves his percussive guitar technique and he also learns how to confront himself with every kind of audience. He also plays in prisons, migrant centers, and psychiatric hospitals. In 2004 Sandro moves to Lille, that year European Capital of Culture. There, he founds the 100Dromadaires, an afro-reggae band. But Sandro wants to see Mali, and so he goes there in 2005. For the first time, he has the opportunity to study together with his masters: he learns the Mandingue style, plays at local festivals (Sumu), records a song with some Bamako musicians, learns dialects: Bambara, Wolof, Malinke. The most beautiful memory of this travel is when he goes to visit Boubacar Traore, his idol. «Boubacar receives me in his courtyard and offers me some tea. Kar Kar music changed my life and now I’m there singing his songs for him and his family. Inebriated by his laughs and lulled by his hospitality, I enjoy this so awaited moment». After his African travel, Sandro plays more than 300 concerts in France. In 2009, 100Dromadaires open the concerts of Omar Sosa and Seun Kuti & Egypt 80. In the summer of the same year, Sandro comes back to Italy. In Puglia he meets the young scriptwriter Giuliano Miniati who, affected by his talent, invites him to Roma. In the capital, Sandro shortly becomes a little case: he plays several concerts and his story intrigues Fabio Luongo, director of documentaries and videoclips who works with famous national artists. Luongo starts to shoot a documentary about Sandro Joyeux. Sandro is hosted by Adriano Bono at the “Roma Incontra il Mondo” festival (Rome Meets The World), opens the Steel Pulse concert at “Gusto Dopa al Sole” (Taste Dope Into The Sun), and the Petra Magoni & Ferruccio Spinetti concert at MarteLive. His music involves musicians who often play live with him: Baba Sissoko, Daniele Sepe, Awa Ly, Pape Kanoute, Madya Diebate. When he meets the Neapolitan producer Mauro Romano, he starts to think to record his first album. It’s the 2011. Sandro also participates as actor/musician in the movie Cosimo e Nicole, with his song Sur les rives (present in the movie soundtrack, produced by Sugar Music, along with Marlene Kuntz, Afterhours, Verdena, and Bud Spencer Explosion). Travelling through Italy, Sandro discovers another Africa: the one of the day laborers. So the Antischiavitour (Anti-Slavery Tour) is born, his journey through Italian countryside to support migrants: from the Foggia Big Ghetto shantytown to Rosarno until Saluzzo (Cuneo province). In the October of 2012, Sandro finishes his first album “Sandro Joyeux”, produced by the young label Mr. Few of Giuliano Miniati and Mauro Romano. The album, recorded between Napoli, Lille and Roma, is a homage to Africa. Thirteen musicians coming from five different countries played in this album, including Daniele Sepe (sax), Madya Diebaté (kora), Moussa Traore (percussions), and Ilaria Graziano (voice). On 21st of December Sandro presents for the first time the album at Angelo Mai Occupato in Roma, just in time before receiving an unexpected and surprising call: Tony Esposito invites him as singer/guitarist of his band for the six Neapolitan concerts of the Pino Daniele tour Tutta n’ata storia (A totally different story), with other guest such as James Senese, Enzo Gragnaniello, Tullio De Piscopo and Raiz. Affected by his «vocal timbre, alternative artistic path, and sensitivity», Eugenio Bennato wants him as soloist together with Pietra Montecorvino and the young Egyptian soprano Fatma Said for his opera “L’amore muove la luna” (Love moves the moon) performed at Teatro San Carlo of Napoli in the February of 2012. At the moment, Sandro is on tour to promote his album, and he is laying the foundations for his next