Malavoi was a

Martinican Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

band consisting of Mano Césaire, Jean-Paul Soïme, Christian de Negri, Denis Dantin, and Marcel Rémion. They formed in 1972, naming themselves after a kind of

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

and a street on

Gorée (; "Gorée Island"; ) is one of the 19 (i.e. districts) of the city of Dakar, Senegal. It is an island located at sea from the main harbour of Dakar (), famous as a destination for people interested in the Atlantic slave trade. Its populatio ...

, a

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

ese island. Many of the members were part of the Merry Lads, a band from the Lycée Schoelcher, and many had been students at Colette Franz, a music school. Malavoi's style mixes French Antillean music with modern influences from across the Americas, especially Caribbean and

Brazilian music The music of Brazil encompasses various regional musical styles influenced by European, American, African and Amerindian forms. Brazilian music developed some unique and original styles such as forró, repente, coco de roda, axé, sertanejo ...

, as well as

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

. Their early popular singles included "Albé" and "En lè mon là". The band was soon expanded to include saxophonist Bib Monville and pianist Paulo Rosine, who became the band's leader. The singers alternated and included Raymond Mazarin, Pierre Jabert, Maurice Marie-Louise, Pierre Pastel and Julien Constance. Malavoi's first album was ''Malavoi'', released in 1978 and featuring singer Ralph Thamar. The band broke up soon after, however, and didn't perform again until re-uniting under Rosine's leadership in 1981. Rosine greatly expanded the fiddle section, first to ten performers, then down to four with Philippe Porry taking over for Dantin, and also added Jean-José Lagier on cello. Malavoi's fame soon spread across the Caribbean and abroad with the 1983 album ''Zouel'', featuring Thamar on vocals along with Marie-José Alie. They played at the

Printemps de Bourges Le Printemps de Bourges is an annual music festival that is held in Bourges, France, over the course of five days. It is now a major event in France and Europe. History The festival was created in 1977 (by , , and ). With its span of 35 years, ...

in 1983 and at the Caribbean festival in Cartagena, and won the Caribbean music prize, the Maracas d'Or, as well as scoring the film '' Rue Case Nègres'' (fr). They continued touring widely into the late 1980s, in the United States, France, Japan, Russia, Brazil, Canada and Ecuador. Thamar was replaced by Pipo Gertrude in 1988. In the early 1990s, the band's popularity continued to grow, and the membership expanded with the addition of singer Tony Chasseur. Their 1992 ''Matebis'' included collaborations with numerous Caribbean musicians, including

Jocelyne Béroard Jocelyne Béroard (born 12 September 1954) is a Martinican singer and songwriter. She is one of the lead singers of the Zouk and Compas band Kassav'. As a solo artist, she helped create ''zouk'' ''Beton,'' a music genre originated by the sem ...

Beethova Obas Beethova Obas (born 1964) is a Haitian musician. Background Beethova's father, Charles Obas, was a painter. A music lover, he named Beethova after Beethoven. Beethova was only 4 years old when Charles Obas disappeared after participating in a p ...

Kali Kali (; , ), also called Kalika, is a major goddess in Hinduism, primarily associated with time, death and destruction. Kali is also connected with transcendental knowledge and is the first of the ten Mahavidyas, a group of goddesses who p ...

Edith Lefel Edith Lefel (17 November 1963, in Cayenne, French Guiana - 20 January 2003, in Dreux, France) was a French singer. Biography Lefel's mother was from French Guiana and her father, a meteorologist, from the island of Martinique; she is Edith in me ...

, Tanya Saint-Val (fr) and

Philippe Lavil Philippe Lavil (born 26 September 1947), pseudonym of Philippe Durand de La Villejégu du Fresnay, is a French singer. He remained particularly famous for his hits singles "Il tape sur des bambous", "Elle préfère l'amour en mer" (number 8 in F ...

. Malavoi's leader, Paulo Rosine, died in 1993. He was replaced by José Privat, while two French violinists, Jean-Luc Pino and Daniel Dato, also joined; the band's leader became Jean-Paul Soïme.

External links

Band profile
at

RFI Musique Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the state-owned international radio news network of France. With 59.5 million listeners in 2022, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world, along with ...

{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1972 Martinican musical groups