Faith J. Cormier wrote this review.
There must be something about the music of former French colonies. I was astounded by how much René Lacaille’s music from the Indian Ocean island of La Réunion sounds like Acadian music from the Maritimes, or zydeco or New Orleans jazz (not necessarily all at once, mind you, but in turn).
This is joyful stuff — not a sad piece in the lot. Even “Pcheur Quat’sou,” which is about fishing in the rain, is happy. The lyrics run the gamut from an ode to cooking in “Kizi’n Man” to a children’s mumblety-peg rhyme in “Game Zoboc.” They were written anywhere from the 1940s to 2004.
Over half the cuts on this recording are instrumental. Lacaille and colleagues use a lot of accordion, sax and trumpet. “Ogardanou” has some lovely, whistling flute music leading the percussion, too. They also use plenty of more traditional instruments like the charango (a small 10-stringed lute), roulr (a large drum), cayanm (a sort of enormous maracas), matalon, berimbau (a one-stringed instrument) and many more. The body percussion on “Cos Cot” combines very effectively with a sort of weird chanting to sound very primitive and at the same time very sophisticated. “La Mandoz,” a hymn to rum, has what I consider to be a very “nightclub” sound, with long tenor sax solos.
There are several sgas, the traditional style developed by the fusion of peoples on the scattered islands of the Indian Ocean.
The liner notes are exhaustive. There is an introduction in English and French. Each cut has its own introduction or explanation, also in English and French. Every song has its lyrics in French, English and Creole. Each language is printed in a different colour to make it easier to pick out. The cover graphic is also printed on the CD itself.
René Lacaille has been a force in the music world for many years. His Web site is entirely in French, but American guitarist Bob Brozman has a tribute to him on his own site in English. His recent albums include Digdig (2002), Patanpo (1999) and Aster (1996). If you’re interested in finding out about more offerings from World Music Network, check out their Web site.
Is this recording worth listening to? Yes, if you want a varied, interesting introduction to the music of La Runion. Yes, if you like things cheerful. If you prefer something sad, this isn’t for you.
(Riverboat Records/World Music Network, 2004)
[Update 2025: Neither Lacaille’s nor Brozman’s websites remain online, but this album and others by LaCaille area available digitally from World Music Network and various streaming services.]
