With its fusion of languorous rhythms and warm sensuality, Thierry Robin's music evokes obvious links with Africa, Andalusia and the Middle East. Ignoring strict musical boundaries, Robin's style is influenced by a totally eclectic mix of genres guaranteed to sweep listeners off to distant climes. Robin won critical acclaim for his 1993 album «Gitans» and his latest opus, «Un ciel de cuivre», appears to be every bit as accomplished as this seminal work.
Right from the opening chords «Un ciel de cuivre» vibrates with the same fervent joy and musical freshness of «Gitans» and quickly proves itself capable of conjuring up the same powerful visual images. Robin sets off on a nomadic musical voyage on his new album, mixing blood, races and cultures. In fact, «Un ciel de cuivre» was recorded with a host of fellow nomads including Roberto and Bruno Saadna - Robin's faithful «Gypsy colleagues from Perpignan» - the exotic singer/dancer Gulabi Sapera from Rajasthan and Turkish-born singer Hacer Toruk. Then there's Renaud Pion (on clarinet and sax), Francis Varis (responsible for some very jaunty accordion playing), rhythm wizard François Laizeau, Keyvan Chemirani, Abdellah Achbani, Mohamed Arab and Abdelkarim Sami "Diabolo" to name but a few of Robin's extended musical family!

Where did Robin's leanings towards such eclectic musical fusion come from? It's an enigma. He was born to French parents living in a village in the Maine-et-Loire region and learned to play the guitar at an early age. However, young Thierry soon moved on to experiment with the oud (the Middle Eastern lute) and the bazooka, inventing his own musical language. Robin insists that he is not a die-hard advocate of métissage (fusion) however. «It's not a concept, something I just do for the sake of it," he says, "Métissage is my destiny - it's a world I've always been totally immersed in."
In short, Thierry Robin is an adventurer, a man used to ignoring musical fads and trends and travelling down his own road, a musician committed to following his own passions, however varied these may be … Perhaps everything began the day he heard the haunting sound of Iraqi oud-player Munir Bachir or then again maybe it was the day he discovered the breath-taking vocals of the famous cantaor Camarón de la Isla. Or was it the day Moroccan friends in Angers introduced him to the sound of Berber chaâbi or the gift of his own oud brought back from Tunisia by a traveller friend? One thing's for sure, Thierry Robin's ears are firmly attuned to music from the most distant climes.