Régis Gizavo (June 16, 1959 – July 16, 2017) was a Malagasy

accordionist Accordions (from 19th-century German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed in a frame). The es ...

. He was born in

Tulear Toliara (also known as ''Toliary'', ; formerly ''Tuléar'') is a city in southern Madagascar. It is the capital of the Atsimo-Andrefana region, located 936 km southwest of the national capital Antananarivo. The current spelling of the name ...

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

and began playing the accordion at a young age. In 1990 he won the

Radio France Internationale Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the State media, 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 ...

" Prix découvertes". In addition to two solo albums, Régis Gizavo has been a member of the

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

n group I Muvrini, and contributed to a range of recordings, including albums by the

Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

an singers

Cesária Évora Cesária Évora GCIH (; 27 August 194117 December 2011) was a Cape Verdean singer known for singing morna, a genre of music from Cape Verde, in her native Cape Verdean Creole. Her songs were often devoted to themes of love, homesickness, nos ...

and Lura. Gizavo partnered with

Louis Mhlanga Louis Mhlanga (born 10 November 1956) is a Zimbabwean artist based in South Africa, an award-winning guitarist and producer. Mhlanga taught himself to play the guitar at a young age and is considered one of the best Southern African guitarists ...

and David Mirandon to record ''Stories'', 2006 winner of

KAOS (FM) KAOS (89.3 FM) is a hybrid college/community radio station licensed to the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. It broadcasts with an effective radiated power of 1.25 kilowatts, and streams via the internet. The station offers radi ...

's ''Spin The Globe'' award. He later partnered with four other musicians from Madagascar ( Justin Vali, Fenoamby,

Erick Manana Erick Manana is an acoustic guitarist, singer and songwriter from Madagascar. He often performs in a duo or as a solo artist, singing in accompaniment to his acoustic guitar in the ''ba-gasy'' genre that gained prominence in the central highlands ...

, and Dama, leader of

Mahaleo Mahaleo is a folk-pop band from Madagascar that is widely viewed as the most popular Malagasy group of all time. The band was founded by Dama (Rasolofondraosolo Zafimahaleo) with six of his classmates after first performing together during the ...

) to record an album together as the Madagascar All Stars. His voice and accordion playing was singled out for praise, " ddinga level of depth to the percussive

Salegy Salegy () is a popular music genre from Madagascar. Originating as a List of Sub-Saharan African folk music traditions, Sub-Saharan African folk music style in the northwestern coastal areas of Madagascar, modern salegy is the genre of Music of M ...

style that characterises a lot of Malagasy music".

Discography

*''Mikea'' (

Label Bleu Label Bleu is a French jazz record label founded by Michel Orier. Orier established the label in the mid-1980s in Amiens and soon after took over directorship of Amiens's cultural center, where he was able to build a recording studio. Label Bleu ...

/Indigo 1996) *''Samy Olombelo'' ( abel Bleu/Indigo 2000) *''Stories'' with Louis Mhlanga, David Mirandon (Marabi Productions 2006) *''Madagascar All Stars'' (Cinq Planètes 2009) *''Ilakake'' (Cinq Planètes 2012) * Vincent Peirani, Stian Carstensen, Régis Gizavo, Klaus Paier : ''Jazz At Berlin Philharmonic IV - Accordion Night'' (ACT Music 2015) * Laurinda Hofmeyr & Afrique Mon Désir Ensemble & Régis Gizavo : ''Afrique Mon Désir'' (2017)

Filmography

*'' Songs for Madagascar'' (2017) *''

Fahavalo, Madagascar 1947 ''Fahavalo, Madagascar 1947'', is a 2018 Malagasy historical war documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, e ...

'' (2010)

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gizavo, Regis 1959 births 2017 deaths Malagasy accordionists Label Bleu artists People from Toliara