Malicorne (band)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Frenchfolk (talk | contribs) at 09:42, 25 June 2016 (→‎MembersChoutet, throughout the entire book.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Malicorne (band)
Malicorne performing on 14 September 2012 in Château-Thierry, France (during the Patrimoine vivant Festival). L-R: Gilles Chabenat, Marie Sauvet, Gabriel Yacoub.
Malicorne performing on 14 September 2012 in Château-Thierry, France
(during the Patrimoine vivant Festival).
L-R: Gilles Chabenat, Marie Sauvet, Gabriel Yacoub.
Background information
OriginParis, France
GenresFrench folk music
Canadian folk music
Folk
Folk rock
Progressive rock
Years active05/09/1973[1]–22/07/1989[2]
15/07/2010[3] (unique show)
27/11/2011[4]–present
LabelsHexagone
Ballon noir
Celluloïd
Elektra Records
Hannibal Records
Disc'AZ
Disques Vogue
Boucherie Productions
Le Roseau
MembersGabriel Yacoub
(lead vocals, acoustic guitar, banjo)
Marie Sauvet
(lead vocals, dulcimer, psaltery)
Yannick Hardouin
(bass guitar)
Gilles Chabenat
(hurdy-gurdy)
David Pouradier Duteil
(drums, percussions)
Nicolaïvan Mingot
(electric guitar)
Past membersHughes de Courson
Laurent Vercambre
WebsiteGabriel Yacoub Official website

Malicorne are a French folk and electric folk band formed in September 1973[1] by Gabriel Yacoub, Marie Yacoub (now Marie Sauvet), Hughes de Courson and Laurent Vercambre. They flourished in the 1970s,[5][6][7] broke up three times in the 1980s[2][8][nb 1] but re-formed two times in the early 2010s[9][10][nb 2] and are currently touring and working on a new studio album.[11]

History

The traditional years

Gabriel Yacoub and Marie Yacoub formed Malicorne on 5 September 1973[1] (naming it after the town of Malicorne in north-western France, famous for its porcelain and faience). Gabriel had been a member of Alan Stivell's band, playing folk-rock based on Breton music. He sang and played acoustic guitar, banjo and dulcimer with Stivell, appearing on his 1972 "A L'Oympia" live album and 1973's "Chemin de Terre", before leaving to form his own band, intending to popularise French music the way Stivell had popularised Breton music. Since several of their albums are called simply Malicorne it had become the custom to refer to them by number, even though no number appears on the cover. Malicorne 1 consisted of the Yacoubs, Laurent Vercambre and Hughes de Courson. The combination of electric guitar, violin, dulcimer, bouzouki and female vocalist immediately brings to mind Steeleye Span, their English equivalent, thus placing them squarely in the electric folk genre. These four musicians were, between them, masters of twelve instruments. Their first four albums consisted of mostly traditional French folk songs, with one or two songs by Gabriel Yacoub and one or two instrumentals per album. Again like Steeleye Span, they occasionally sang group harmonies a cappella. On Malicorne 4 they were joined by Olivier Zdrzalik on bass, percussion and vocals. The exuberant art-work on the album sleeves, featuring elves and dragons, makes them collectors pieces.

The experimental years

L'Extraordinaire Tour de France d'Adelard Rousseau (1978) was very much a concept album, concerning a guild craftsman's travels around France, with an implied spiritual exploration. It is perhaps the most exciting of their albums, with some gothic and prog-rock elements in the music. Like their next album Le Bestiaire, it consists mostly of songs by Gabriel, with a few by Zdrzalik and de Courson. The range of sounds of these albums is huge. Their appeal goes beyond the French-speaking world, and still gives them a dedicated following, but most of the albums are only sporadically in print. Some sections are clearly classical music, but electronic wizardry and bagpipes also appear.

Excess and Decline

The size of the band grew to 12, including at one point, Brian Gulland from the English group Gryphon. Their commercial success enticed them into pure pop. Balançoire En Feu (1981) was a disappointment to many. Les Cathédrales de L'Industrie (1986) began with an epic folk-rock track. One of the other tracks, "Big Science 1-2-3" is in the style of Peter Gabriel, Laurie Anderson or Gary Numan. They disbanded shortly afterwards.

Touring

Malicorne performing on 16 August 2013 in Anost, Burgundy, France
(during the Fête de la vielle en Morvan).
L-R: Gilles Chabenat, Marie Sauvet, David Pouradier Duteil, Gabriel Yacoub, Yannick Hardouin, Nicolaïvan Mingot and Romain Personnat.

Once they had gained a reputation in France, Malicorne toured in French-speaking Canada. The album En Public (1979), recorded live in Montreal, makes it clear that they were more than a studio band. They toured over 800 venues in Canada, America, and Europe. In 1990 Gabriel and Marie appeared as a duo in a low-key event in London. All of Malicorne's songs were in French, apart from a few words of English on their final album. At their concerts they made some announcements in broken English. Gabriel and Marie continue to record, but their CDs are only occasionally in print. The three compilation albums Quintessence, Legende and Vox show the range of Malicorne's work. A compilation of Malicorne tracks, featuring only those sung by Marie, was issued in 2005, Marie de Malicorne. Malicorne reunited in 2010 for an appearance at Les Francofolies de La Rochelle Festival at the Grand Théâtre de la Coursive in La Rochelle. A CD and a DVD of the performance were released in March 2011.

Members[12]

Current members

Past members[13]

Former members

  • Hughes de Courson – 1973-1976, 1977-1978, 1981 (guest recording musician only), 2010 (one unique show)
  • Laurent Vercambre – 1973-1976, 1977-1978, 2010 (one unique show), 2013, 2014-2015
  • Max Picout – 1973-1974 (touring only) – bass guitar
  • Pierre Kerhervé – 1975-1976 (touring only) – bass guitar
  • Olivier Zdrzalik-Kowalski – 1976-1988, 2010 – bass guitar
  • Claude Alvarez-Pereyre – 1976-1977 (touring only) – violin, electric guitar
  • René Werneer – 1976-1977 (touring only) – violin
  • Brian Gulland – 1979 (guest recording musician only), 1979-1980 – bassoon, cromorne, flute, harpsichord, keyboards, saxophone, oboe, vocals
  • Patrick Le Mercier – 1979-1982 – violin, electric guitar, Scottish bagpipes, gaita, lyra, cromorne, vocals
  • Jean-Pierre Arnoux – 1979-1982, 1986 (guest recording musician only), 1987-1989 (touring only) – drums, percussions
  • Dominique Regef – 1979-1980 – cello, rebec, hurdy-gurdy, sanza
  • Félix Blanchard – 1982 (touring only) – keyboards
  • Michel Le Cam – 1984 (touring only), 1986 (guest recording musician only), 1987-1989 (touring only) – violin, mandolin, accordion, vocals
  • Gérard Lavigne – 1984 (touring only) – bass guitar
  • Jean-Marc Alexandre – 1984 (touring only) – electric guitar
  • Frank Gliksman – 1984 (touring only) – drums
  • Patrice Clémentin – 1986 (guest recording musician only), 1987-1989 (touring only) – synthesizers, sequencers, vocals
  • Frédéric Mathet – 1987-1989 (touring only) – bass guitar, clarinet, vocals
  • Nikki Matheson – 1987-1989 (touring only) – keyboards, tin whistles, vocals
  • Romain Personnat – 2011-2014 (touring and recording) – diatonic accordion, harmonium, vocals

Guest recording musicians

  • Dan Ar Braz – 1978 – electric guitar
  • Michel Santangeli – 1978 – drums
  • Bruno Menny – 1978 (also a recording studio assistant) – orgue à voix ("voice organ")
  • André Proulx – 1978 (only twice as a guest live musician at the two shows on 2 & 3 December at El Casino, Montreal, Quebec, Canada) – violin
  • Alain Roux – 1979 – harmonica
  • Iván Lantos – 1981 – Bulgarian bagpipes, kaval flute
  • Véronique Harvey – 1981 – backing vocals
  • Jim Cuomo – 1981 – saxophones
  • Bertrand Darin – 1981 – piano
  • Michel Bourzeix– 1981 – xylophone
  • Richard Galliano – 1981 – accordion, bandoneon
  • Alan Kloatr – 1986 – uilleann pipes, tin whistle
  • Olivier Daviau – 1986 – chabrette
  • Jean-Michel Kajdan – 1986 – electric guitar

Discography

As Gabriel & Marie Yacoub

  • 1973: Pierre de Grenoble (studio album #0)

As Malicorne

  • 1974: Malicorne 1 (aka "Colin") (studio album #1)
  • 1975: Malicorne 2 (aka "Le Mariage anglais") (studio album #2)
  • 1976: Almanach (studio album #3)
  • 1977: Malicorne 4 (aka "Nous sommes chanteurs de sornettes") (studio album #4)
  • 1978: Quintessence (Best Of #1)
  • 1978: L'Extraordinaire tour de France d'Adélard Rousseau (studio album #5)
  • 1979: En Public (live #1: partial live recording of 2 shows on 2 & 3 December 1978 at El Casino, Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
  • 1979: Le Bestiaire (studio album #6)
  • 1981: Balançoire En Feu (studio album #7)
  • 1986: Les Cathédrales de L'Industrie (studio album #8)
  • 1989: Légende : Deuxième Époque (Best Of #2)
  • 1996: Vox (Best Of #3)
  • 2005: Marie de Malicorne (Best Of #4)
  • 2011: Concert exceptionnel aux Francofolies de la Rochelle (live #2: live recording of the show on 15 July 2010 at Les Francofolies de La Rochelle Festival, La Rochelle, France ; 1CD & 1DVD)

Bibliography

  • Arnaud Choutet, Malicorne, Le Mot et le Reste Edition, Marseille, June 2016, 176 pages.[14]

Notes

  1. ^ In early 1982 at the end of their Balançoire En Feu tour, at the end of their Summer 1984 US & Fall 1984 France tours and on 22 July 1989 in Saint-Gouéno, Brittany, France at the end of their Les Cathédrales de L'Industrie tour.
  2. ^ On 15 July 2010 for a unique reunion show at Les Francofolies de La Rochelle Festival in La Rochelle, France and starting from 27 November 2011.

References

  1. ^ a b c En Public (1979) live album CD booklet.
  2. ^ a b Choutet, p. 102.
  3. ^ Choutet, p. 154.
  4. ^ Malicorne's Facebook page > Post on 27 November 2011, 01:20pm (no longer online) announcing the formation of the new band under the name "Gabriel et Marie de Malicorne".
  5. ^ Choutet, p. 19.
  6. ^ Choutet, p. 49.
  7. ^ Choutet, p. 81.
  8. ^ Choutet, p. 94.
  9. ^ Choutet, p. 153.
  10. ^ Choutet, p. 159.
  11. ^ Choutet, p. 165.
  12. ^ Choutet, throughout the entire book.
  13. ^ Légende: Deuxième Époque (1989) compilation album CD booklet.
  14. ^ "Malicorne, Arnaud Choutet". lemotetlereste.com. June 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2016.

External links

Websites in French

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Malicorne_(band)&oldid=726922962"