Amusician, singer and composer from Cape Verde (born in Cidade da Praia), Dany Silva has lived in Portugal since 1961. He went there as a teenager to study agronomy, but was soon was distracted by music, when he was invited to become a member of the group "Charruas". Within a few years, Dany became a member of an important group, "Quinteto Academico + 2", where he earned valuable experience as a musician, playing with Mike Carr, Earl Jordan and Mike Sargeant.
In Portugal, in the Seventies, Cape Verdean music grew in importance and the name of Dany Silva began to be heard. In 1979, Dany recorded his first single called Feel Good.
In 1981, the label Valentim de Carvalho released his first single in Portuguese : Branco Velho, Tinto e Geropiga, which also became his first hit. He followed that up with second single Já Estou Farto. Then he recorded, in maxi single format, the hit song Criola de S. Bento.
In 1986, Dany recorded his first album, Lua Vagabunda. It was produced by his friend, singer/composer Rui Veloso, and Moz Carrapa, and included such great musicians as Paulino Vieira, Nana Sousa Dias, Edgar Caramelo, Tomás Pimentel, and Rui Veloso. The album spawned the hit songs songs Banhada, Lua Nha Testemunha.
Dany’s second album, Sodádi Funaná, included the hit songs Bernardo, Caminho de S. Tomé and Mamã África, and was released in 1989.
In 1994, Valentim de Carvalho released a "best of" album called Criola de S. Bento, that also included three new original songs.
Dany became a member of the prestigious project, Sons da Lusofonia, in 1995.
In October 1997, he performed in the Lusophone Festival in Montreux, Switzerland.
In 1998, Dany Silva was invited to perform at Centro Cultural de S. Paulo in Brazil. He sang for three nights in a row and received a magnificent response. In November of the same year, he represented Cape Verde in the African Music Festival of Amsterdam.
The Brazilian singer/composer Chico César invited Dany Silva to appear at his Lisbon concert, in December,1998, as a guest star.
After a long pause, in which he dedicated himself to composing new songs, Dany Silva recorded his most recently-released CD, entitled Tradiçon, produced by Rui Veloso. This CD features special guests like Carlos do Carmo, Sara Tavares and The African Voices, and was released on Universal/Polygram – Portugal.
In the past year and a half, Dany has been engaged in a recording renaissance. He began a musical partnership with American record producer Barry Marshall (LaVern Baker, Peter Wolf, Philip Hamilton) which has resulted in two new albums recorded in the United States (in Boston), and in Portugal, at Rui Veloso’s Vale de Lobos Estudio.
The first is Caminho Longi, a set of new Cape Verdean songs, written and arranged by Dany along with a remake of his hit, Mama Africa, which features a guest vocal by American singer Philip Hamilton. Caminho Longi, with Dany’s new songs showcases the rhythms and emotions of coladeira, morna, funana, and even blues, will be released this fall.
The second album is a collection of rearrangements and new recordings of Dany’s hits, along with his take on a few of the classic songs of Cape Verdean and Angolan music, such as Badjo na Fazenda, Tudo Kuse Badia and Criola de San Bento. This album also features performances by legendary artists of Cape Verdean and Portugese music like Paulo de Carvalho (dueting with Dany on Poema da Farra), Tito Paris (singing and playing guitar on Dany’s hit Nha Mudjer), and Rui Veloso (singing on Lua and Playing guitar on Dany’s Bernardo).
The Rough Guide to World Music described one of Dany’s albums as "a personal favorite". Perhaps one of Dany’s new albums will become a personal favorite of yours.