Biography
Dactah Chando is by far one of the best reggae and dancehall singers of Spain.
He is a master at creating lyrics and a master in rhythmic phrasing. He plays with words, phrases and rhymes as if it were the easiest thing in the world to do. With this unique ability he adapts to any Riddim –whether it is Roots, Rootsrock, Reggae or Dancehall- to turn it instantly into his unmistakable, characteristic Dactah Chando Reggae-Canario Style.
This surf fanatic and free spirited performer from the island of Tenerife started his professional career in 2009 working with Frank Dellé during Dellé’s tour presenting his album "Before I grow old". Through this special collaboration Dactah Chando got to met a few members of the famous band Seeed, members of Dellé's band as well. From that moment on Dactah Chando began to collaborate with many important groups such as The Wailers, Alpha Blondie, Wayne Wonder and Six Nation, and with artists like Junior Murvin, Chukki Starr, Brinsley Forde (ASWAD), Queen Ifrica and Sargent Garcia. He was also a key figure in the first surfers dancehall video made in Spain, "Surf is my life".
While filming this project Dactah Chando met and began working with the producer Toby Nambur (Six Nation). Together they composed and arranged the songs that would be included in Dactah Chando's first solo work, "Clara" (Achinech Productions, 2011). The album, recorded in Tenerife and Cologne and produced by Toby Nambur and Guido Craveiro (Moloko, Bootsy Collins, Zoe, The Police in Dub, and also responsible for the sound of Frank Dellé's album "Before I grow old"), walks a line between salsamuffin à la Sargent Garcia and international reggae-industry standard as popularized by Seeed and Alborosie. "Clara" has a stellar guest list which includes Tanya Stephens, Alborosie, Luciano, Louie Culture, Gyptian and a few members of the bands Seeed, Okada Supersound and Six Nation. Highlights of the album include the driving opener "Wansagain", which is an excellent showcase for the combination of Chando’s razor-sharp voice and Guido Craveiro’s stylish modern production, the majestic skank of "Palante", where Chando shares the mic with Pachango, singer of the overnational Latin/reggae band Six Nation, and "Abusadores" featuring vocals by Jamaican reggae queen Tanya Stephens.
Just weeks after its release the album began receiving a wonderful welcome not only from the specialized media in Spain -such as the reggae sites Reggae.es, Blogreggae.com, bcn-reggae.com, Roots Reality Culture, Alphadread blog, Radio Rasta and Barcelona Reggae Town- but also from the general media as well, like Radio Nacional de España and a large part of the press of the Canary Islands. Even the Spanish surf magazines Radical Surf and 3 sesenta, celebrated the album! "Clara" was also very well received outside Spain. The german magazines specialized in reggae, ska, dub and dancehall music, Riddim, Irieites.de, published a great review. The two most important radio stations in Germany, Deutschlandradio Berlin and Funkhaus Europa WDR, published fantastic reviews and the Dactah entered into the permanent rotation of their radio programm with four tracks as well. The album also received a good review on the most complete internet music guide, Allmusic.com. , reggaeville.com of the United States of America.
In march 2011 Dactah Chando performed the album live in Cologne, Germany, joined on stage by members of the bands Seeed, Okada Supersound and Six Nation, and with special guest stars Frank Dellé during the song "Power fi Chant" and Pachango during "Palante". German Bunch TV made an live Interview and entirely recorded the whole concert. Reggaeville.com was also there and recorded parts of the gig for its internet stream. A few months later he participated in the Walo Musik Festival in Mauritania, West-Africa sharing the stage with artists from different countries like Senegal, Mali, Belgium and France. And august 26th 2011 Dactah Chando performed in the most important European reggae festival, Rototom Sunsplash, once again backed up by the amazing band that joined him in the Cologne concert. He was the second most rated artist and under the five best views of all video shows on Rototom TV.
Next stop in Dactah Chando's Tour was Venezuela, South-America, a country in which Chando performed in 2009 with great success. On October 29th 2011 Dactah Chando played one concert in the city of Maracay.
His European live Tour 2012 of Dactah Chando & Band led him as well to big Festivals in Germany and Poland. Ostroda Reggae Festival.
Download the first single of "Clara", "Mi orgullo", by clicking on the album cover!
Press: Achinech Productions phone.: (+34) 629557519. Contact: booking@achinech-productions.eu
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