Biographie - Discographie
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New album: Cordéon Kaméléon
2 cd (1 vocal, 1 instrumental interpretation)
Wolrwilde release on 28 january 2009 |
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René Lacaille, a universal Creole The songs of René Lacaille spring from those traditions, but he enriched the tradition as he came in contact with other musicians from other places, and from his own island too, as Madoré, Alain Péters et Danyèl Waro, the great maloya singer. The main thing for him is that music is an universal language, be it sung in Creole, French, English, slang or be all the languages mixed together as some of his guests on the album do : André Minvielle, Denis Péan and Loïc Lantoine.
René Lacaille was born in a family of sugar cane cutters as well as of musicians, in the eights of the Western coat. Being a boy he ran up and down in the ravins where cyclones leave pools of fresh water, hunting birds so that his mother could cook meat, looking afte his father’s goats How not share that with everyone? He has been at the same time starving and living surrounded of love and solidarity, - it was happiness in a way, he says.
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His great-grand-father, grand-father, father and elder brothers were musicians, zouar (players) in Creole. So when René was old enough, that is when he was 7, he went with his father and brothers on the roads of the island –on foot, bearing the instruments, as they had no car, only the big white owners, and the doctor had a car ! They played in the marriages, that could last a week, in the green huts built for the occasion. They played in all kind of feasts, in the middle of the merry-go-round, during several days, It makes your head spin but that is a beautiful life, even if it is hard for a little boy to play all night long. As René was not tall enough to play the bass drums with his foot, he played drums with his hands, he learnt to play accordeon, by ear, as his father. So did all begin.
Life in la Reunion after the Second World War was very hard, sugar cane so hard to cut and collect did not feed even a man so could it feed a family ! Luckily music helped to get a few money. René Lacaille Senior is well-k,own, he plaays with a great composer and singer Georges Fourcade, his orchestra is famous in the West of the island and some old people even nowadays mix up the father and the son who have the samen name. René’s brothers too had their ball orchestras, and one of them , Renaud, went to play trumpet in the army. He did not want to grow sugar cane. |
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And René ? He first flees from school at 14, then leaves the family house at 16 to play guitar in the Nativel ball orchestra, in the South. He has chosen to be a musician and to live playing music in la Reunion :he palys with Henri Madoré, a poet, songer and composer who used to plyed for a glass of rhum, Ren »é reminds that wth the radio wanted to record him, they had to keep him the night before without drinking to make sure that he would be present and sober for the recording. Then first journey to France at the end of the 60s. He had to go to the army in the mother country (as they say) : he’ll be in the army for more than 14 months as he is not a well-disciplined and obeying slodier, going in the army jail because more than once he forgot to stay and keep the camp to play music- a shocking experience. But it was the only way to leabe the island.
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At that time, after the army the young Creoles had to fly back to the island, they were not allowed to stay in France, even being French ! René escaped that thanks to his brother Renaud and to a false work declaration – we can says it as it is a long time ago ! He wanted to play on an other scale, to get more experience. He learnt music theory then with his brother and used to play in ball orchestras or in jazz clubs, as a guitar player. Back to the mother island in the 70s, a big time. He creates the Ad Hoc band, and Cameleon with his friends Alain Péters, Bernard Brancard, Joël Gontier et Loy Erlich. Cameleon becomes a mythical band in la Reunion. Thousands of people came to the their concerts then. |
At the end of the 70s René flies back to France, the island is too little once more. He is still living there, travelling around the world to make people discover the ryhtms and musics of his birth island through his own compositions and the Creole standards that he plays. From the 80s it is a time of important meetings and creation too : René has his own group and plays with musicians such as Manu Dibango, Ray Léma, Youri Buenaventura, Raul Barboza, Antonio Rivas, Valdir Santos, Silverio Pessoa, André Minvielle (for 30 years!), Lo’jo and Denis Péan, Toumani Diabaté, Debashish Bhattacharya, Jacques Higelin, Bernard Lubat, and Bob Brozman, , la Campagnie des musiques à Ouïr of Denis Charolles,la compagnie du Tire-Laine, the Barbarins Fourchus et younger musicians and poets as D’ de Kabal, Rouda, Fantazio, Bumcello, Loïc Lantoine…lately he met Tommy Jordan who offered him Love above..Many of there musicians figure on Cordéon Kaméléon The Lacaille Family goes on playing on the roads of the earth, for in René’s band there is his son Marc, his daughter, Oriane, and Yanis, one of his many nephews.
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Cordéon Kaméléon All those meetings and his journeys influenced René’s music, gave some more colours to it, and are still feeding his natural lyrism. For they are human as well as musical meetings and friendship is as important as playing music …and cooking for him ! Being much open to other musics and creative experiences with young musicians, he keeps being the one who makes people discover the music of la Reunion. That is what he does touring all around the world, in his concerts with his band and with friends as Bob Brozman or Debashish Bhattacharya, in Africa, in Asia, in Quebec, in South America and in Europe. This album is the living proof of René’s feelings of universality and of his faithfulness to the traditions in which he grew up. René is celebrating in thi album 55 years of musical life ! The album is like the camaleon, it changes colour according to the guests, but it is still the same animal ! It is full of René’s humour, good mood, emotions and serenity. Have a good party ! |
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