JEAN DIDIER HOAREAU

URBAN MALOYA

"Out vwa i f lv bondi" as his Reunion pals say: "your voice awakens the ancestors"
 
Born near Sartrouville, in the suburbs of Paris-France, it is nonetheless Maloya that runs through his veins: unsurprisingly as Jean-Didier Hoareau takes after his uncle, Danyel Waro. Hoareau's maloya is stormy and tense, coloured by the ghettos concrete, and sung in his high-pitched voice. He himself builts the instruments he plays on, traditional Reunion island percussions: the rouler, kayamba, bobre, piker, rouler....

But Jean-Didier Hoareau also knows how to play with contrasts, accompanied by Marjolaine Karlin on the accordion or alone with a sanza, first creating an intense proximity to his audience for one song before moving away during the next. Jean-Didier is unclassifiable. His uniqueness is rooted in his respect for his ancestors, babas and forefathers. As he likes to say, a maloya sprout has been planted in him and he has a duty to water it. His curiosity leads him to embrace the world, to embrace other types of music, but it is the rhythm of maloya he uses to decipher these musical worlds, be they rap, jazz or chanson.

Since 2005 he has been touring throughout France with his own group, and has accompanied Danyel Waro and Christine Salem on many occasions. He has taken part in numerous cultural outreach initiatives in Ile-de-France, organised by the Africolor festival or by the Sax (Espace Musical dAchres, 78), where he was a resident artist and where his first album Lafous' (Cobalt 2011) was produced.

In 2011 he joined Marjolaine Karlin's Le Bateau Train show, as performer and songwriter, released his debut album and joined forces with Reunion rapper Tonton Issa. In 2012 he was awarded an artist residency at the Halle aux Cuirs in the Parc de la Villette and a residency in stage promotion at the Centre FGO-Barbara, both projects supported by the LMEC association and the Fondation de France.

In 2013-2014, reinforced by a new management, and while accompanying Danyel Waro on his national and international tours, Jean-Didier Hoareau and his quartet (Loran Velia, Bruno Toussaint and Marjolaine Karlin) are ready to take the gran somin (great road) of festivals and stages around the world.

INSTRUMENTATION:

• Jean-Didier Hoareau, Laurent Vela, Bruno Toussaint: Voix & Percussions (Piker, Rouler, Kayamb, Sati, Triangle...)
• Marjolaine Karlin: Voices, Acordeon, Percussions

FEW MORE LINKS

• Jean Didier's EPK: http://vimeo.com/79378823
  
• Jean Didier's Maloya workshops in France: https://www.facebook.com/pages/S%C3%A9ksion-maloya/216767275181264
• Jean Didier along with his uncle Danyel Waro - NL 2013: www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJh4DZtNy4s