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There’s something very french about
Davy Sicard's music, with his soft.
Yearning voice.light airy guitar and sophisticated
production, But French with a twist. as he comes from
Réunion ln the lndian Ocean. still administered by France.
and sings a contemporary form of maloya. the dance music
of the Island. There is some traditional instrumentation
plus delicate strings, percussions and female backing vocals.
but it’s Sicard's intimate and vulnernable voice that makes
the strongest impression. The songs.in Créole and French.
are very fluid, sometimes holding back, then pulllng ahead.
while the vocal harmonies onl songs like Tsilaosana and
Mon F'rêr are haunting.
Something of a discovery
Simon Broughton
- Evening Standard March 6th 2009
Davy Sicard is little known here, but things could soon change for the singer and guitarist from the Indian Ocean Island of Réunion. Kabar means a night gathering, a vigil and discussion, and this album’s subtile, understated music is based on maloya, an old Réunion form combining the music of slaves and slavers. Sicard’s warm vocals speak volumes here, and along the way he putson record some of the best whistling since John’s Lennon’s « Jealous Guy ».
Tim Cumming
- the Independant 21/26/02/09
His name hasn’t spread far beyond the Francophone world as yet, but this singer-guitarist from the Indian Ocean island of Réunion is a prodigious talent. Just as singers from Cape Verde have a knack of blending disparate soulful influences, so Sicard’s songs are the expression of a vibrant Creole culture.
The lyrics, sadly, aren’t translated on the sleeve, but Sicard possesses the kind of warm, husky timbre that transcends language barriers. Iz Ali has a hint of jazz swing, and the radio-friendly production values are classy throughout. Like that underrated Congolese expat Lokua Kanza, Sicard knows how to seduce outsiders without lapsing into slick crossover pop. Clive Davis
- The Sunday Times-February 15, 2009
Discography
2008 Kabar
2006 Ker maron
Photos
Bio
Far away from ephemeral fashions and marketing noise, the kaleidoscope of world music focuses regularly on an emblematic artist from an unrecognized region. This spring, Reunion Island is under the spotlights with one of its richest musicians, Davy Sicard, adept of a spellbinding modern maloya, where the different components of a multiple-origin people are reflected : India and Madagascar of course, but also Africa and Europe.
The Maloya is the musical inheritance of the slaves and was unofficially forbidden until 1981 on the Réunion Island. Davy did'nt grow up with this music and discovered it in the early 90's.
Through his own identity search, as if it was an initiation journey, this young author-composer has shaped his new record "Ker Maron". In Creole or French, his songs follow on from each other and the listener can thus share the true history of this troubadour searching for his roots. In the course of evocative titles like "grandpèr té si mon zépol", "juste un écho" or "tango souk inn de", Davy Sicard introduces his universe offering us the most beautiful resonant visiting card of his cosmopolitan country, lightened by his Creole personality from the other end of the world.
Wrapped up in sincerity and tolerance, his songs are not afraid of taboo. Filled with sensuality, enhanced with a positive spirit, they talk about colonization, slavery, Reunion spirit, Creole culture and weave a powerful thread between the Ancient world and today's modernity. This major connection between past and present is found in the texts topics : family, friendship and love but also music, dance and freedom. The singer is also bound to the French mainland thanks to another link. Indeed, even if Davy still lives in his Bras-Panon fief, an agricultural town on the island where sugar cane is grown; his album was recorded in the world music capital and now his second home port : Paris.
Davy Sicard's voice is the first element to surprise your hearing. Extremely pure, strengthened by vocal harmonies and ethereal choruses, it flirts with the art of singing through a cappella which is the prerogative of the most intensive world musics, the ones with a soul stirred up by the same ancestral and multi-secular sources that gave birth to gospel and soul music. A few traditional instruments, essentially percussion, like the "rouleur" which is a big drum and the "kayanm" which is close to maracas, are melting with the more familiar guitar and bass tones. The mix of all these ingredients give birth to an original music, marked by softness and are full of melody. This permanent oscillation between festive and intimate gives to this cross-bred, island magic neo-blues an immediate intensity. The "maloya kabosé" claimed by the singer takes then all its time. It is likely that Davy Sicard shares the same wisdom and vision as Ben Harper or the late Ali Farka Touré.
The initiated few have heard about Davy Sicard for some time, thanks to a first self-produced record and to resounding first parts as guest artist warming up the concerts of Souad Massi, Cesaria Evora, Tété, James Brown, etc.
With "Ker maron", the Indian Ocean griot becomes unmissible in today's world music geography.
Ker Maron, release : june 2006
New album: Kabar
KABAR release September 2008
A kabar is an evening of Maloya singing and dancing. It can also have a spiritual meaning; we talk of kabaré services at local ceremonies.
The word can be traced back to Madagascar where it refers to a kind of meeting, a discussion on different subjects social issues, recent problems, etc.
This album tells the story of a person experiencing the passing of a close family member, opening his eyes to the reality of life the human condition, society, life and death.
Track listing:
Té fo lo kér, reflecting upheaval.
Iz alï, concerning doubts about the ability to recover.
Tsilaosana, where the character visits Cilaos for a new experience and a little breathing space, coming back stronger.
Mon frér, which shows the will to live and continue traditions.
Zwazo la kol, to realise that we are caught up in a social structure in which real life has lost its space.
Kafouyaz, ditto, but this time for "kaf" in particular, in current Reunion society.
Mové sor, offering a critique of this almost existential need for money and power.
Koté-la, which talks of the direct link between wealth and poverty.
Papillon, an ecological fable appropriate to the modern day.
Ola, an allusion to the parallel that can be drawn between Corrida and Kabar, places where life are lived to the fullest through contact with death/the dead.
Aouminm, about starting to understand the other, who doesnt quite speak the same language and who is in another / the other world.
In fwa lan, which calls for a simple relationship with the great beyond, without getting involved in practices/beliefs/superstitions that result in a downward spiral with a complete loss of reason.
Mon solèy, for accept
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