WOMAD

René Lacaille

From Reunion

René Lacaille is the embodiment of La Réunion's verve: a man steeped in his culture's celebration of life and good times, René learned how to command a party as early as age 7, when he accompanied his father to perform at weddings and dances throughout the island's many towns. This was rigorous training, because the musicians had to be versatile and capable of playing the Paso Doble, cha-cha, polka, waltz, bolero, Creole quadrille, Sega, and Maloya. René's talent and curiosity led him to master the bongos, drums, accordion, guitar, and saxophone. These countless nights that René spent playing professionally with his family, combined with new music arriving from other shores, provided a variety of influences for him throughout the 1970s. Flamenco, salsa, twist, rock, jazz, and fusion would soon inform his own compositions. He abandoned the accordion for the guitar in his twenties, and formed the now-legendary group Caméléon who were the first to invent electric Maloya, blending traditional Réunion music with modern western timbres. In 1979, René moved to France and continued his musical interests in jazz and fusion. Soon after, he had a deeply moving musical encounter with the roots Réunion artist Danyél Waro, which re-kindled his interest in the accordion and Réunion musical traditions, thereby changing the direction of his musical life. As with all master musicians, René plays, practices, and composes ceaselessly. His music has carried him to Europe, Africa, Canada, Brazil, and China.

French-Canadian world music guru Jean Beauchesne suggested René as a potential collaborator for Bob's ongoing island recording projects. For Bob, René's music was a revelation, full of freedom and excitement. Serendipity entered the picture when Bob was invited to play solo at a festival on La Réunion. The two men took this opportunity to meet and immediately started to play music, laughing and communicating in René's Creole French and Bob's broken French-within minutes a deep friendship was forged. They wound up performing together at the festival, and it seemed that Bob's musical energy and passion was well matched to both René and the mood of the Reunionaisse people - judging by the pandemonium that followed each song. Through the auspices of the Pôle Régional de Musiques Actuelles de La Réunion, recording sessions were arranged on the island. Several months later, a second month-long residence was organised in order to continue recording, and to present several performances around the island and in the Seychelles. Before the second residence, René spent a week in California at Bob's home, playing, composing, and cooking Creole food every night. During the visit, they continued to make surprising discoveries about the range of each other's music. In duet shows, the two friends are able to play for hours without rehearsal, and have been known to continue playing into the night and early morning, long after the concerts have ended. Since this new album was made, René, Bob, Joel, and Bernard have toured together in Europe, South Africa, and Canada, and they look forward to introducing La Réunion's rhythms to the rest of the world.
René Lacaille

(Biography provided by artist management - April 2002)