Élage Diouf

Élage Diouf (born El Hadji Fall Diouf) is a Senegalese-born musician, percussionist, singer and songwriter who lives in Quebec.
Biography
El Hadji Fall Diouf was born in Dakar, Sénégal. He is the ninth child of a family of ten.
From an early age, El Hadji was attracted to music. He learned to play percussion on his own, in the streets.
At first, El Hadji developed his passion but still hid it from his parents.
Musical career
The Diouf brothers
After being a part of many show tours inside Senegal, and a six-month tour all over Europe, El Hadji and Karim are hired by the troupe Diamono Ballet for a series of concerts in Quebec, including the FrancoFolies de Montreal festival. This is their first visit in Quebec; after this experience, they decided to settle in. Quickly, the two siblings get known on the Montreal music scene.
El Hadji and Karim, now called "the Diouf brothers", are required to play with many bands and artists, such as Loco Locass, Dubmatique, Stefie Shock, Roch Voisine and Ariane Moffatt, on stage and in studio.
But they will be revealed to the Quebec public thanks to their collaboration with Les Colocs on the album Dehors Novembre, where they are heard singing in Wolof, their native language. El Hadji cowrites the song Tassez-vous de d'là with André Fortin, which will let him win the SOCAN Echo award as a cowiter.
Then, from 2005 to 2008, the two brothers worked for the music of the Cirque du Soleil show Delirium. They went on tour with the show all over the world. El Hadji has been a part of all the representations as a singer and percussionist.
Solo career
Aksil
In 2010, El Hadji, under the frenchified name "Élage", released his first solo album, named Aksil (wolof word that means "welcome", "come in"). By its title, the album represents accessibility, opening; an invitation to enter a musical world.
Élage sings mainly in wolof, but also in French and English. The album is festive; the songs address many themes such as love, peace, hope, adventure, etc. This album is inspired by many cultures: a mix of folk, blues and world music, it has Scottish influences (Yone Wi), Brazilian influences (Tanta); it offers a cover of an old John Hartford country song (Man of Constant Sorrow) and a cover of a Francis Cabrel song (Madame X). Aksil is also an album of many collaborations, including with Jenny Salgado from Muzion, Mike Sawatski from Les Colocs and Jean Leloup.
Melokáane
After a five-year absence, Diouf announced in Spring 2015 that he would soon release a new album.
On August 28, 2015, Diouf presented Melokáane (wolof word that means "reflection", "image"), his second solo album. The album title refers to the identity, humanity, to the reflection of a life's journey at the present moment. Once again, Élage sings mainly in his native wolof language, and in English and French. The album is a mix of African rhythms with blues influences (Tay), reggae influences (Melokáane), jazz influences (Misal), rock influences (Secret World, Dekoulo Fi) and pop influences (Just One Day). It touches on different subjects: celebration, resilience, life's fragility, challenges faced by immigrants' integrating into a new society and the personal aspect of spiritual bonds. The album pays tribute to emblematic figures in the struggle for human rights (Mandela and Sankara, which is sung in French); it offers a wolof adaptation of a Peter Gabriel song (Secret World); it includes a duet with canadian multi-platinum singer Johnny Reid (Just One Day) and a collaboration with guitarist Jordan Officer (Tay).
Diouf and the album received many accolades, including a nomination at the 2016 Gala de l'ADISQ (World Music Album of the Year) and a nomination at the 2016 Canadian Folk Music Awards (World Music Solo Artist of the Year).
Discography
Albums
Solo
* Aksil (2010)
* Melokáane (2015)
Diouf'
*Dund (2003)
Les Colocs
*Dehors Novembre (1998)
*Suite 2116 (2001)
*Il me parle du bonheur (2009)

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