Gabriel Yacoub
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Gabriel Yacoub (4 February 1952 – 22 January 2025) was a French musician and visual artist. He was a lead member of the
Celtic music Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celts (modern), Celtic people of Northwestern Europe (the modern Celtic nations). It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and ...
band Malicorne from its formation in 1973, as a pioneer of the revival of traditional music in contemporary formats. He later also played and recorded solo music, including to his own lyrics.


Life and career

Yacoub was born in Paris on 4 February 1952 to a Lebanese father and a French mother. His early musical interests, in the 1960s, was American folk music, first by
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
, then by
Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer, songwriter, and composer widely considered to be one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American Left, A ...
and real American traditional music. He was inspired, but looked for something with French cultural roots. He became a guitarist and singer with the group of harpist
Alan Stivell Alan Stivell (; born Alan Cochevelou on 6 January 1944) is a Breton people, Breton and Celtic musician and singer, songwriter, recording artist, and master of the Celtic harp. From the early 1970s, he revived global interest in the Celtic (specif ...
who introduced him to traditional
Breton music Since the early 1970s, Brittany has experienced a tremendous revival of its folk music. Along with flourishing traditional forms such as the bombard- biniou pair and fest-noz ensembles incorporating other additional instruments, it has also branc ...
and toured France in 1971. Before founding Malicorne, Gabriel and his then wife Marie Sauvet recorded the experimental album ''Pierre de Grenoble'' in 1973. This was originally intended to be the name of the group. It included contributions from Breton guitarist-singer
Dan Ar Braz Daniel Le Bras (born 15 January 1949), known by his stage name Dan Ar Braz (), is a Breton guitarist-singer-composer and the founder of L'Héritage des Celtes, a 50-piece Pan-Celt band. As a leading guitarist in Celtic music band, he recorde ...
. In 1973, they co-founded Malicorne, to revive traditional French music and combined modern instruments, including guitar,
electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...
and
bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...
, with traditional instruments such as
bagpipe Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, No ...
s,
hurdy-gurdy The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-turned crank, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin (or nyckelharpa) bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar ...
and
krumhorn The crumhorn is a double reed instrument of the woodwind family, most commonly used during the Renaissance period. In modern times, particularly since the 1960s, there has been a revival of interest in early music, and crumhorns are being pla ...
s. Gabriel played guitars,
mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...
,
Epinette des Vosges The ''épinette des Vosges'' () is a traditional plucked-string instrument of the zither family, whose use was confined to two areas in the Vosges mountains of France approximately 50 km apart: around Val-d'Ajol and around Gérardmer. ...
and
banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...
, while Marie played
electric dulcimer An electric dulcimer is a dulcimer that uses an electric Pickup (music technology), pickup to amplify its sound, similar to an electric guitar. They come in a number of different sizes, styles, and types. The most common type is the electric Appa ...
,
bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', , from Greek , from Turkish ) is a musical instrument popular in West Asia (Syria, Iraq), Europe and Balkans (Greece, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Turkey). It is a member of the long-necked lute fam ...
and hurdy-gurdy. They made a number of successful albums, of which the 1976 '' Almanach'' was regarded as the most popular. In 1978, Yacoub recorded a solo album called ''Trad. Arr.'', which featured English fiddler
Barry Dransfield Barry Dransfield (born 1947 in Harrogate, West Riding of Yorkshire), is an English folk singer, fiddler, cellist and guitarist. He has appeared as a session musician on numerous albums by other artists, and has released his own albums as well. ' ...
as guest; he played traditional French tunes with acoustic guitar, and began to write and compose original songs. After disbanding for the first time, at the end of 1981, Malicorne reformed in different configurations in 1984, in 1986 and again from 1987 to 1989. The group played in its original line-up for a single concert on 15 July 2010, in
La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle'') is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime Departments of France, department. Wi ...
and finally, in November 2011, with a new line-up. In August 2017, a concert in
Paimpol Paimpol (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwest France. It is a tourist destination, especially during the summer months when people are attracted by its port and beaches. Geography The town is located in t ...
, as part of the Sea Shanty Festival, was the band's last appearance. In 1986, the final year of Malicorne, Yacoub recorded ''Elementary Level of Faith'', an album of electric folk-rock, with the Hungarian composer Ivan Lantos and the singer and keyboardist Nikki Matheson. In 1990, his next album, ''Bel'', was back to acoustic guitar. It features a
string quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...
as well as bagpipes played by Jean-Pierre Rasle (who had previously recorded, from 1982 to 1983, with
the Albion Band The Albion Band, also known as The Albion Country Band, The Albion Dance Band, and The Albion Christmas Band, is a British folk rock band, originally brought together and led by musician Ashley Hutchings. An important grouping in the genre, ...
). Yacoub toured as a duo with Marie in 1990. In 1994 he released ''Quatre'', featuring an orchestra and a choir. He worked with fiddler Nathalie Riviere and bassist Yannick Hardouin from 1998. In February 1995, he performed at the
Palais des Sports Palais des Sports (French: Palace of Sports) is a generic name of comprehensive indoors sports venue, mostly in the French-speaking world, including: ; France: *Palais des Sports de Beaulieu, Nantes * Palais des sports Ghani-Yalouz, Besançon * Pal ...
, in Paris, opening for
Bernard Lavilliers Bernard Oulion (; born 7 October 1946 in Saint-Étienne), known professionally as Bernard Lavilliers (), is a French singer-songwriter and actor. Discography Albums Studio albums * ''Premiers pas...'' (1968) * ''Les poètes'' (1972) * ''Le Sté ...
, and in May that year at
La Cigale La Cigale (; English: ''The Cicada'') is a theatre located at 120, boulevard de Rochechouart near Place Pigalle, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. The theatre is part of a complex connected to the Boule Noire. The hall can accommodate 1,3 ...
. In 2002, he wrote a book of poetry and lyrics, called ''Les choses les plus simples'' ("The simplest things"), distributed by
Harmonia Mundi Harmonia Mundi is a record label that specializes in classical music, jazz, and world music (on the World Village label). It was founded in France in 1958 and is now a subsidiary of PIAS Entertainment Group, which is itself owned by Universal M ...
and recorded an album of his own songs in English, ''The Simple Things We Said''. In July 2013, Yacoub was honoured as an officer of the
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...
. Yacoub died after a long illness at a hospital in
Bourges Bourges ( ; ; ''Borges'' in Berrichon) is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre (Cher), Yèvre. It is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Cher (department), Cher, and also was the capital city of the former provin ...
on 22 January 2025, at the age of 72.


Discography

Yacoub made many recordings, with Marie Yacoub (before, during and after Malicorne), as lead singer and musician with Malicorne, and solo, including:


Gabriel and Marie Yacoub

* ' (1973)


Malicorne

: ''see also Malicorne discography'' * '' Malicorne'', aka ''Colin'' (1974) * '' Malicorne'', aka ''Malicorne 2'' and ''Le Mariage anglais'' (1975) * '' Almanach'' (1976). * '' Malicorne'', aka ''Malicorne 4'' and ''Nous sommes chanteurs de sornettes'' (1977) * ' (compilation, 1977)


Solo

* ' (1978) * ' (1987) * ' (1990) * ' (1994) * ' (1997) * ' (compilation) (1999) * ' (2001) * ' (2002) * ' (2004) * ' (2008)


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yacoub, Gabriel 1952 births 2025 deaths Musicians from Paris Celtic rock music Fast Folk artists 20th-century French musicians French people of Lebanese descent 21st-century French musicians