| The Unique and Sublime Guitar Virtuoso D'Gary |
Ernest Randrianasolo D'gary
Biography: Courtesy of Radio France Internationale
According to David Lindley, the American
producer who helped compile the seminal
Madagascan music album "A World Out Of
Time", D'Gary is "a monster guitarist!"
And, if you think that's an exaggeration,
just take a listen to the unique open-tuned
style of Madagascar's guitar wizard!
Ernest Randrianasolo – better known to
Madagascan music fans as D'Gary – was
born in the Madagascan capital,
Antananarivo, on 22 October 1961. He is
a descendent of the Bara tribe, a nomadic
people who traditionally made their living
herding oxen across the plains of the
central south.
At the age of eight young Ernest moved
to Tulear, a town in the south east of the
island, when his policeman father got a
new posting. Ernest's first contact with the
music world came via his elder brother,
who played bass with a local band. The
group would often get together and
rehearse at the Randrianasolo home and,
after rehearsals, Ernest would mess
around on his brother's guitar. Developing
a veritable passion for the instrument, he
went on to cobble together his own
makeshift guitar at the age of thirteen.
Honing his strumming skills, playing with a
group of schoolfriends after class, he also
spent hours on his own, trying out the
tsapiky (a rhythm which was just taking off
on a local level and which eventually went
on to become a symbol of the music
scene in southern Madagascar).
In 1978 Ernest lost his father, who died
barely a month after retiring from the
police force. Meanwhile, the
Randrianasolo family had returned to live
on their 'native soil', setting up home in
Betroka. And Ernest's father's funeral
turned out to be a prestigious affair, the
island's leading musicians coming together
to play at his graveside - a performance for
which they were paid in Bara currency, i.e.
humped oxen! Listening to the havoria,
the final stage of the Bara's traditional
burial ceremony (marked by an all-female
choir singing and wailing), Ernest noted
that the women's mourning took its
melody from the tribe's traditional songs.
This was the first time the young boy had
come into contact with his ancestral
culture and the experience would mark
him deeply.
The Randrianasolo family fell on hard
times after Ernest's father's death, his
mother finding herself alone with nine
hungry children to raise. But Ernest/D'Gary
soon found a way of helping his mother
out. The budding young musician had
recently learnt to play the electric guitar at
a schoolfriend's house and one day he
came up with the novel idea of playing the
instrument without plugging it in. At first,
D'Gary could only play the tsapiky (the
rhythm he had learnt in Tuléar), but with a
bit of help from his friend, he soon
mastered the basic chords. And when his
friend was invited to play at a local
wedding he offered to take D'Gary along
with him.
D'Gary found himself playing at the open-
air dance after the ceremony with a group,
but soon decided that the other musicians'
tastes were not to his liking. Branching out
on his own, the young guitarist launched
into a vibrant tsapiky solo – and ended up
bringing the house down! Indeed, D'Gary's
wedding 'concert' turned him into a local
celebrity and he was soon invited to join
the best musical outfit in Betroka.
In 1979 the group were contacted by
Discomad (the only real record company
in Madagascar at the time, which later
metamorphosed into the label Mars), who
invited them to Antananarivo to record
their first single. Interestingly enough, D’
Gary had never actually envisaged taking
up music as a serious profession. But,
eager to contribute whatever he could to
the family's finances, he agreed to go to
the capital, seeing it as an ideal
opportunity to sort out his mother's
pension! D'Gary's trip to Antananarivo
turned out to be a major turning-point in
his early career, for it was during his stay in
the capital that he hooked up with the
leader of Feon’ala, one of Madagascar's
leading groups, who invited him to join the
band.
D'Gary could scarcely believe his luck.
Joining Feon'ala not only meant that he
got to go off on extensive tours of the
island's provinces – it also meant that the
guitar wizard who had never owned his
own instrument finally got to lay his hands
on a permanent guitar. Experimenting
with a wealth of different styles, D'Gary
recalled the music he had heard at the
havoria ceremony at his father's funeral
and began working on a string version of it.
Whenever Feon'ala returned to their base
in Antananarivo, D'Gary would stay with
an old friend from his Tulear days, Régis
Gizavo (the accordion-player from the star
Corsican group I Muvrini who was also
busy with his solo career). It was not
uncommon at this time for the young
guitar maestro to spend hours locked
away in his room, poring over new
melodies and rhythms as if they were
some hidden treasure.
After honing his musical skills with Feon’ala
for several years, D’Gary embarked on a
parallel career as a musical 'mercenary' in
1985. The ambitious young musician
would spend his days hanging outside the
doors of the Discomad studio, hiring
himself out as a session guitarist capable of
playing lead, rhythm or bass guitar –
whatever the occasion required! Then, in
1986, D'Gary branched out in a new
direction, travelling up the east coast to
Maroansetra to play at the famous 'dust
dances' (so-called because by the time the
village dances finished in the early hours of
the morning everyone would be covered
in white dust from the fields!)
Six months later D'Gary upped sticks again,
moving a few hundred kilometres up the
road to Tamatave (the island's main port).
This proved to be another major turning-
point in D'Gary's career, for he scarcely
had time to step off the boat before he
heard someone calling his name. The
someone in question turned out to be
Dida, one of the Madagascan music world's
most respected and influential figures.
Seeing D'Gary step off the boat Dida
recalled an experience six years earlier,
when he had come across a young guitarist
playing at his brother's jazz club in
Antananarivo in 1981. He had caught D’
Gary in the midst of a 'private' session,
warming up before proper rehearsals
began and had been impressed by the
young musician's flair.
Greeting D'Gary off the boat six years
later, he invited him to come and stay at
his house for as long as he wanted,
encouraging him to give up his lifestyle as
a musical 'mercenary' and develop his own
style. Dida offered food, lodging – and,
most importantly, the loan of a guitar!
D’Gary went back to see his family in
Betroka in 1988, but resumed his 'artistic
residency' in Dida's house shortly
afterwards. Acting as mentor and sponsor
to D'Gary, Dida introduced his young
protégé to one of the directors of CGM
(the German-Madagascan Centre in
Antananarivo) the following year. The
association, renowned for playing a very
active role on the island's music scene,
invited D'Gary into the studio to record
two tracks. But, excited by his
extraordinary playing style, the director of
the Mars label, pushed the young guitar
wizard to work on a solo album. "Garry"
was released shortly afterwards – and
several tracks from this impressive debut
ended up featuring on the "Musiques de
Madagascar" compilation (released in
France in 1992).
D’Gary soon found himself working with
the CGM on a full-time basis and in 1989
he went on to form his own group, Iraky
Ny Vavarano. Working as a trio (vocals,
percussion and guitar), the threesome
went on to record a series of demo
tapes. Meanwhile, D'Gary was beginning
to make a name for himself in the
national media and soon started making
his first television appearances.
D'Gary rejoined Feon'ala for a one-off
tour in the north of Madagascar in 1991
and it was partway through this tour that
he received an urgent phone call from
Antananarivo. Could he drop what he was
doing and head back to the capital
immediately? Two American producers
were waiting to see him at the Mars
studios. The two American producers,
David Lindley and Henry Kaiser, had
picked up on the D'Gary buzz on the local
music scene and insisted on staging a
recording session with the Madagascan
guitar hero before they left town.
D'Gary arrived back in Antananarivo and
headed straight into the studio, laying
down thirteen tracks in an hour! And this
highly fruitful recording session went
down in history as his first international
album, "Malagasy Guitar, The Music From
Madagascar" (released on Shanachie).
Henry Kaiser, who did not miss a
moment of the legendary session,
remembers the experience to this day. "I
couldn't believe my eyes or ears when
those tracks were played in front of me,"
he says incredulously, "If you get a guitar
and sit at home trying to work out what's
going on while he plays, all I can say is
'Good luck'!"
D'Gary's style is disconcerting to say the
least. Listen closely to his music and you'll
swear there must be at least two
guitarists playing. This illusion stems from
D'Gary's penchant for "open tunings" (a
special technique he has developed
through years of patient research and
which, needless to say, he keeps totally
secret!) Open tunings are actually nothing
new in musical terms. In fact, they form
the basis of tsapiky, the music that
influenced D’Gary so strongly in his early
years. However, in tsapiky musicians
change only one string while D'Gary alters
several. Some critics have claimed that
D'Gary's unique playing style attempts to
reproduce the sound of the marovany
(the traditional Madagascan frame box
zither). But D'Gary's secret techniques
actually make his guitar sound more like
the lokanga (the traditional violin which
plays such a major role in the Bara's
havoria).
D'Gary flew out to Louisiana to appear at
the International Music Festival of La
Fayette in 1993. Taking advantage of his
presence at the festival, D' Gary's
producers, Lindley and Kaiser, pressured
him to go into the studio and record an
album with Dama (lead singer of hip
Madagascan pop outfit Mahaleo). The
recording of "Dama & D’Gary" turned out
to be a far from pleasant experience for
D’Gary, however. Indeed, once the guitar
parts had been recorded, he was not even
allowed back into the studio to listen to
his contribution!
This disappointing experience was only a
temporary blight on D'Gary's horizon,
however, because the following year he
came bounding back to the forefront of
the Madagascan music scene with his new
group, Jihé. What's more, the outfit soon
flew out to France to record a new
album, "Horombe". This turned out to be
an altogether more uplifting experience
than "Dama & D'Gary", the guitarist
working under much better conditions –
and, of course, having initiated the
recording of this album himself!
Enjoying increasing popularity abroad,
D'Gary soon established himself as the
most sought-after Madagascan musician
on the international circuit. Playing sell-
out concerts all the way from Germany
and Norway to Tasmania, Nigeria,
Cameroon and South Africa, D'Gary
brought the house down at the world's
top music festivals, scoring a big hit at
Abidjan's MASA festival in 1995 (as he
would at Womad in Singapore in 2001).
On his next album, "Mbo Loza" (recorded
in 1997), D'Gary cut his band back to a
basic trio – guitar, vocals and percussion,
handing the role of lead vocalist over to
his seductive dancer, Rataza. In fact, D’
Gary preferred to take a back seat when
it came to singing. Although he began
singing vocals on a few of his tracks every
now and then, he considered that his
voice was not good enough to do more
than that. And fans had to wait for "Ataka
Meso" (recorded in 2000 and released in
2001) to hear D'Gary really let himself go
on the vocal front!
The year 2000 brought some important
changes in D'Gary's relationship with his
homeland. After having neglected the
Madagascan music scene for some ten
years, preferring to focus his attention on
his international career, he finally agreed
to put together a compilation of
Madagascan music ("Tsapiky 2000",
released on the Mars label). Later that
year he also embarked on a mini tour of
Madagascar, organised by the Alliance
Française, playing fifteen concerts across
the island. These two events appeared to
reconcile D’Gary to his homeland once
and for all.
December 2001
later, he invited him to come and stay at
his house for as long as he wanted,
encouraging him to give up his lifestyle as
a musical 'mercenary' and develop his own
style. Dida offered food, lodging – and,
most importantly, the loan of a guitar!
D’Gary went back to see his family in
Betroka in 1988, but resumed his 'artistic
residency' in Dida's house shortly
afterwards. Acting as mentor and sponsor
to D'Gary, Dida introduced his young
protégé to one of the directors of CGM
(the German-Madagascan Centre in
Antananarivo) the following year. The
association, renowned for playing a very
active role on the island's music scene,
invited D'Gary into the studio to record
two tracks. But, excited by his
extraordinary playing style, the director of
the Mars label, pushed the young guitar
wizard to work on a solo album. "Garry"
was released shortly afterwards – and
several tracks from this impressive debut
ended up featuring on the "Musiques de
Madagascar" compilation (released in
France in 1992).
D’Gary soon found himself working with
the CGM on a full-time basis and in 1989
he went on to form his own group, Iraky
Ny Vavarano. Working as a trio (vocals,
percussion and guitar), the threesome
went on to record a series of demo
tapes. Meanwhile, D'Gary was beginning
to make a name for himself in the
national media and soon started making
his first television appearances.
D'Gary rejoined Feon'ala for a one-off
tour in the north of Madagascar in 1991
and it was partway through this tour that
he received an urgent phone call from
Antananarivo. Could he drop what he was
doing and head back to the capital
immediately? Two American producers
were waiting to see him at the Mars
studios. The two American producers,
David Lindley and Henry Kaiser, had
picked up on the D'Gary buzz on the local
music scene and insisted on staging a
recording session with the Madagascan
guitar hero before they left town.
D'Gary arrived back in Antananarivo and
headed straight into the studio, laying
down thirteen tracks in an hour! And this
highly fruitful recording session went
down in history as his first international
album, "Malagasy Guitar, The Music From
Madagascar" (released on Shanachie).
Henry Kaiser, who did not miss a
moment of the legendary session,
remembers the experience to this day. "I
couldn't believe my eyes or ears when
those tracks were played in front of me,"
he says incredulously, "If you get a guitar
and sit at home trying to work out what's
going on while he plays, all I can say is
'Good luck'!"
D'Gary's style is disconcerting to say the
least. Listen closely to his music and you'll
swear there must be at least two
guitarists playing. This illusion stems from
D'Gary's penchant for "open tunings" (a
special technique he has developed
through years of patient research and
which, needless to say, he keeps totally
secret!) Open tunings are actually nothing
new in musical terms. In fact, they form
the basis of tsapiky, the music that
influenced D’Gary so strongly in his early
years. However, in tsapiky musicians
change only one string while D'Gary alters
several. Some critics have claimed that
D'Gary's unique playing style attempts to
reproduce the sound of the marovany
(the traditional Madagascan frame box
zither). But D'Gary's secret techniques
actually make his guitar sound more like
the lokanga (the traditional violin which
plays such a major role in the Bara's
havoria).
D'Gary flew out to Louisiana to appear at
the International Music Festival of La
Fayette in 1993. Taking advantage of his
presence at the festival, D' Gary's
producers, Lindley and Kaiser, pressured
him to go into the studio and record an
album with Dama (lead singer of hip
Madagascan pop outfit Mahaleo). The
recording of "Dama & D’Gary" turned out
to be a far from pleasant experience for
D’Gary, however. Indeed, once the guitar
parts had been recorded, he was not even
allowed back into the studio to listen to
his contribution!
This disappointing experience was only a
temporary blight on D'Gary's horizon,
however, because the following year he
came bounding back to the forefront of
the Madagascan music scene with his new
group, Jihé. What's more, the outfit soon
flew out to France to record a new
album, "Horombe". This turned out to be
an altogether more uplifting experience
than "Dama & D'Gary", the guitarist
working under much better conditions –
and, of course, having initiated the
recording of this album himself!
Enjoying increasing popularity abroad,
D'Gary soon established himself as the
most sought-after Madagascan musician
on the international circuit. Playing sell-
out concerts all the way from Germany
and Norway to Tasmania, Nigeria,
Cameroon and South Africa, D'Gary
brought the house down at the world's
top music festivals, scoring a big hit at
Abidjan's MASA festival in 1995 (as he
would at Womad in Singapore in 2001).
On his next album, "Mbo Loza" (recorded
in 1997), D'Gary cut his band back to a
basic trio – guitar, vocals and percussion,
handing the role of lead vocalist over to
his seductive dancer, Rataza. In fact, D’
Gary preferred to take a back seat when
it came to singing. Although he began
singing vocals on a few of his tracks every
now and then, he considered that his
voice was not good enough to do more
than that. And fans had to wait for "Ataka
Meso" (recorded in 2000 and released in
2001) to hear D'Gary really let himself go
on the vocal front!
The year 2000 brought some important
changes in D'Gary's relationship with his
homeland. After having neglected the
Madagascan music scene for some ten
years, preferring to focus his attention on
his international career, he finally agreed
to put together a compilation of
Madagascan music ("Tsapiky 2000",
released on the Mars label). Later that
year he also embarked on a mini tour of
Madagascar, organised by the Alliance
Française, playing fifteen concerts across
the island. These two events appeared to
reconcile D’Gary to his homeland once
and for all.
December 2001
| D'Gary recorded live in Chicago 2002 |
