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Niyorah, Toussaint, Tuff Lion & The Jah Current Band
Wednesday, August 11th
I-Grade VI Reggae Showcase
9:00 PM, Doors Open 8:30 PM, $18 Day Of, Day of tickets available after 4pm at Moe's or by calling (831)479-1854
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Moe's Alley & I-Grade Records proudly present the Feel Your Presence Tour featuring: Niyorah, Toussaint, Tuff Lion & The Jah Current Band featuring Celebrity Hornz.
VIDEO: TOUSSAINT "Be You"
ABOUT NIYORAH
Nigel "NiyoRah" Olivacce was born on October 9, 1980 in the coastline village of Pointe Michel, Dominica. At age 4, he moved to St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, with his family, and cultivated an interest in music through listening to artists in his father’s and uncle’s roots reggae collections, including Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer, Burning Spear and Lucky Dube. By age 16, NiyoRah began chanting on the streets about the life experiences of the Savan ghetto in downtown Charlotte Amalie.
At age 18, NiyoRah decided to pursue a career in reggae music. “Reggae had one of the greatest influences on my life. It’s the type of music I cling to for some mystical reason,” he says. “The most high guided me more than me myself.” He took on the name NiyoRah - a combination of his nickname growing up and out of respect for the omnipotent power of the sun. Music was a natural career choice because of his musically gifted family. His grandfather is an award-winning vocalist who sings Negro spirituals and gospel, while his aunt, Ophelia Olivacce Marie, is an international French-speaking artist heralded as “Dominica’s Songbird” for her style of cadence and calypso. In 1998, he was introduced by local reggae radio personality Ras Manny to Black Juice Records, a Virgin Islands-based recording company. He joined with six other reggae artists under the company to co-found Star Lion Family. His voice can be heard on Star Lion Family’s EP “Brighter Days” released in November 2003.
NiyoRah’s songs delve into a wide range of issues, including cultural living, love for nature, strengthening of all peoples, especially Africans, and spiritual growth. In concert, NiyoRah has performed in front of thousands, sharing the same stage with world renowned artists such as Sizzla, Capleton, Junior Reid, Buju Banton, Bunny Wailer, Glen Washington, Midnite Band, Junior Kelly, Marcia Griffiths, Eve, Erika Badu, and many others.
NiyoRah’s albums, “A Different Age" (May 2005), "Purification Session" (June 2006) and "Stolen scrolls" (June 2008), were all released under one of the Virgin Island's top reggae labels, I Grade Records. His newly awaited and anticipated album, " Feel Your Presence" is scheduled for release in June 2010 under his new record label Denkenesh Records, which was produced in the island of Jamaica during 2009. The album will feature the dynamic Jah Mason on the track entitled "Bruk Down Barrier" and the legendary Sugar Minott on the track entitled "World Jungle".
Since the release of his first album, Niyorah has toured/performed on the east and west coast of the U.S., Hawaii, Venezuela, Guam and various Caribbean Islands. He has performed in front of thousands at festivals/events such as the World Social Forum, Reggae Rising, Baltimore African American Heritage Music festival and the Sierra Nevada World Music festival to name a few. With his experience and relentless approach to the stage, he is definitely a spectacle to watch live with his band, the Jah Current band.
ABOUT TOUSSAINT
With a husky tenor that is the epitome of soul, and with musical influences that range from roots reggae to gospel to neosoul to hip hop, Toussaint carries a sound that is true to his nickname, “the Liberator”. His music is liberated from any boundaries in form or name. Yet Toussaint remains firmly grounded by his foundational pillars of soul and roots. As a “soul roots” singer unlike any other, and with an epic debut album on tap, Toussaint is poised to break new ground worldwide.
Toussaint began his musical journey where most of the celebrated soul voices of the past began: in the church. The son of a Baptist preacher and a gospel singer, Toussaint spent the majority of his youth singing in various churches in and around his home state of Indiana. Following a relocation to Boston in 2001, he began to sing with a wide range of groups where he learned to jump easily from the blues, to old-school R&B, to funk, to reggae.
In 2006, the word of Toussaint’s vocal prowesses and songwriting spread to the ears of the soul/funk trio, Soulive, who invited him to join the band as their lead singer. Toussaint penned all of the lyrics for the acclaimed group’s album, No Place Like Soul, released on the newly revived Stax label. Touring the world and performing at legendary venues across the world for nearly two years, Toussaint was able to share the stage with renowned artists such as Isaac Hayes, the Rolling Stones, John Legend and the Dave Matthews Band. Toussaint’s stage performance, vocal strength and songwriting reached new heights during his tenure with Soulive.
After taking a break from the music scene in 2008, Toussaint has returned in full force, bringing his original soul reggae music to audiences in the northeast with the bands Buru Style and the Trama Unit. 2010 finds Toussaint poised for another swell in the storyline of his career. Connecting with St. Croix-based I Grade Records – the label behind several notable reggae releases by Midnite, Dezarie, NiyoRah & others – Toussaint has recorded an epic album of original soul-drenched, genre-defying roots music: Black Gold. Slated for a August 2010 release, the album’s first single, “Be You”, is already ringing through the airwaves worldwide, with a video filmed on location in St. Croix. Keep your eyes open for what comes next.
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