Malicorne (band)

Malicorne are a French folk and folk rock band formed in September 1973 broke up three times in the 1980s but re-formed twice in the early 2010s and toured from July 2012 until their last show in August 2017, after which they disbanded.

History

1973–1977: The traditional years

Gabriel Yacoub (1952–2025) and Marie Yacoub formed Malicorne on 5 September 1973 Malicorne played sold-out to such an extent that the attendance exceeded the concert hall capacity as most of the audience attended the show standing. and on 24 July in Quimper, Finistère .

During the Almanach Tour, the band performed in France at many venues, especially during summer festivals. During the first 6 months, out of 8 dates, the band performed 5 dates in Brittany where Malicorne always enjoyed a great popularity. The tour continued beyond 2013, visiting the whole country and three foreign countries, Belgium in 2013, the Netherlands in 2014 and Switzerland in 2015.

On 20 September 2012 the six-member band had decided to become simply Malicorne, after the eponymous duo had realized that the new name "didn't work", that "in people's mind, this remained Malicorne".

Line-up changes

At a Malicorne concert on 24 May 2013 in Aubervilliers, a seventh member was on stage, appearing to be one of Gabriel Yacoub's long-time music partners: guitarist Nicolaïvan Mingot. Malicorne performed again as a 6-musician band at the following concert on 6 July 2013 at the Gooikoorts Festival in Belgium. At the next Malicorne show on 14 July 2013, Mingot was back on stage with the Malicorne. Since then, Mingot had permanently joined the band.

On 14 July 2013, during the Château d'Ars Festival, Malicorne's founder member Laurent Vercambre joined the band on stage as a guest musician to perform a few tracks, first as a solo violinist and secondly within the nyckelharpas duo he had formed at the time with Eleonore Billy. This was the first time Laurent played again with the band since the one-off reunion show Malicorne performed (exactly) three years earlier on 15 July 2010 in La Rochelle. Thereafter, Laurent supported Malicorne at their concert on 20 September 2014 at Le Trianon in Paris, France, their first major show in the capital city since their previous one twenty-six years ago (on 5 March 1988 at the Théâtre Déjazet).

In December 2014, Laurent Vercambre permanently returned to the band, replacing Romain Personnat. The new line-up gave its first show in January 2015 at the Théâtre des Feuillants in Dijon, Burgundy, France.

New material

On 24 June 2015, Malicorne confirmed that their new studio album was still in preparation, confiding "taking the time necessary to obtain an album of quality" and announcing "hoping anyway to release [...] some time in October 2015" two discs : a 4-track EP « to set the tone of the album » and a vinyl record (including two versions) of a new track, "Les Cendres de Jeanne", a song written by Gabriel Yacoub about Joan of Arc. Finally, only the vinyl was released on 10 December 2015 under the name Jehanne, including two different versions: the A-side version entitled "Les Cendres de Jeanne" (written by Gabriel Yacoub / Nicolaïvan Mingot) performed by Malicorne & the B-side version entitled "Ghjuvanna" (written by Gabriel Yacoub / Nicolaïvan Mingot / Laurent Vercambre) performed by A Filetta, a Corsican band and Malicorne's long-time friends.

Vercambre's departure

In mid September 2015 Laurent Vercambre left the band, after a spell of nine months, with plans for new musical projects. He was to announce his departure on stage, during what was to be his last show with the band, on 25 September 2015, in Coucy-le-Château, Picardy, as part of the (inaugural) Historica/Pagan Festival. The show was cancelled however, after the entire event was cancelled by its organisers. Malicorne once again became a sextet.

On 18 December 2015, Malicorne performed its first show since Vercambre's departure, in Corbeil-Essonnes, Paris. This was only the band's 5th show in Île-de-France (out of 32 shows) following the dates at Aubervilliers on 24 May 2013, Cachan on 14 March 2014, Paris (at Le Trianon) on 20 September 2014 and La Verrière (near Versailles) on 10 April 2015.

Malicorne performed only five shows in 2016, all of them occurring in the provinces. Their last 2016 show on, 21 October 2016 in Ploërmel, Morbihan, was their 37th since the beginning of the Almanach Tour in early July 2012 but also their first show in Brittany since the one (almost three years previously) on 7 December 2013 in Tréguier, Côtes-d'Armor.

Final show

Malicorne performed their very last show on 12 August 2017 at the Festival du chant de marin in Paimpol, Brittany. Concomitantly, the new album project was cancelled as the band had de facto (definitively) ceased to exist.

Past members

Full members

Gabriel Yacoub (1952–2025) – 1973–1989, 1995 (unique performance), 2010 (unique show), 2011–2017 – lead vocals, electric & acoustic guitars, épinette des Vosges, mandolin, mandoloncello, banjo
Marie Sauvet – 1973–1987, 1995 (unique performance), 2010 (unique show), 2011–2017 – lead vocals, dulcimer, bouzouki, hurdy-gurdy
Hughes de Courson – 1973–1976, 1977–1978, 1981 (producer and guest recording musician only), 1995 (unique performance), 2010 (unique show) – bass guitar, percussions, cromorne, vocals
Laurent Vercambre – 1973–1976, 1977–1978, 1995 (unique performance), 2010 (unique show), 2013 (as a guest musician at the Château d'Ars Festival), 2014–2015 – violin, viola, bouzouki, psaltery, harmonium, mandolin, vocals
Max Picout (d. 17 November 2011) – 1973–1974 (touring only) – bass guitar
Pierre Kerhervé – 1975–1976 (touring only) – bass guitar
Olivier Zdrzalik-Kowalski – 1976–1986, 2010 – bass guitar
Claude Alvarez-Pereyre – 1976–1977 (touring only) – violin, electric guitar
René Werneer – 1976–1977 (touring only) – violin
Brian Gulland – 1979 (only guest recording musician on En public), 1979–1980 – bassoon, cromorne, flute, harpsichord, keyboards, saxophone, oboe, vocals
Patrick Le Mercier – 1979–1982 – violin, electric guitar, Scottish bagpipes, gaita, lyra, cromorne, vocals
Jean-Pierre Arnoux (≈1946– d. 4 July 2002) – 1979–1982, 1986–1989 (recording and touring) – drums, percussions
Dominique Regef – 1979–1980 – cello, rebec, hurdy-gurdy, sanza
Félix Blanchard – 1982 (touring only) – keyboards
Michel Le Cam – 1984 (touring only), 1986–1989 (recording and touring) – violin, mandolin, accordion, vocals
Gérard Lavigne – 1984 (touring only) – bass guitar
Jean-Marc Alexandre – 1984 (touring only) – electric guitar
Frank Gliksman – 1984 (touring only) – drums
Patrice Clémentin – 1986 (guest recording musician only), 1987–1989 (touring only) – synthesizers, sequencers, vocals
Frédéric Mathet – 1987–1988 (touring only) – bass guitar, clarinet, vocals
Nikki Matheson – 1987–1989 (touring only) – keyboards, tin whistles, vocals
Yannick Hardouin – 1989 (touring only), 2010 (unique show), 2011–2017 – bass guitar
Gilles Chabenat – 2010 (unique show), 2011–2017 – hurdy-gurdy
David Pouradier Duteil – 2010 (unique show), 2011–2017 – drums, percussions
Romain Personnat – 2011–2014 (touring and recording) – diatonic accordion, harmonium, vocals
Nicolaïvan Mingot – 2013–2017 – electric guitar

Guest studio musicians

Dan Ar Braz – 1978 – electric guitar
Michel Santangeli – 1978 – drums
Bruno Menny – 1978 – orgue à voix ("voice organ") (also a recording studio assistant)
Alain Roux – 1979 – harmonica
Iván Lantos – 1981 – Bulgarian bagpipes, kaval flute
Véronique Harvey – 1981 – backing vocals
Jim Cuomo – 1981 – saxophones
Bertrand Darin – 1981 – piano
Michel Bourzeix– 1981 – xylophone
Richard Galliano – 1981 – accordion, bandoneon
Alan Kloatr – 1986 – uilleann pipes, tin whistle
Olivier Daviau – 1986 – chabrette
Jean-Michel Kajdan – 1986 – electric guitar

Guest live musicians

André Proulx – violin (only twice at the two shows on 2 & 3 December 1978 at El Casino, Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
Les Charbonniers de l'enfer – vocals (only once on 20 August 2012 at the Festival des Traversées Tatihou, Tatihou island, near Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue, Normandy, France)
Eléonore Billy – nyckelharpa (only once on 14 July 2013 at the Château d'Ars Festival in Lourouer-Saint-Laurent, Indre, France)
Raphaël Thiery – cornemuse du Centre (bagpipes of Central France) (only once on 16 August 2013 at the Fête de la vielle en Morvan in Anost, Burgundy, France)

Timeline

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Discography

Pre-Malicorne albums

Pierre de Grenoble (as Gabriel & Marie Yacoub) (1973)

Malicorne albums

Studio albums

Malicorne (aka Malicorne 1 or Colin) (1974)
Malicorne (aka Malicorne 2 or Le Mariage anglais) (1975)
Almanach (1976)
Malicorne (aka Malicorne 4 or Nous sommes chanteurs de sornettes) (1977)
L'Extraordinaire tour de France d'Adélard Rousseau (1978)
Le Bestiaire (1979)
Balançoire En Feu (1981)
Les Cathédrales de L'Industrie (1986)

Live albums

En Public (1979) (live #1: partial live recording of 2 shows on 2 & 3 December 1978 at El Casino, Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
Concert exceptionnel aux Francofolies de la Rochelle (2011) (live #2: live recording of the show on 15 July 2010 at Les Francofolies de La Rochelle Festival, La Rochelle, France; 1CD & 1DVD)

Compilation albums

Quintessence (1978) (Best Of 1974–1977)
Légende (Deuxième Époque) [1978-1981] (1989) (Best Of 1978–1981)
Vox (1996) (Collection of songs performed only a cappella)
Marie de Malicorne (2005) (Collection of songs performed only by Marie Sauvet)

Singles

Sources:

The Malicorne singles were mostly not-for-sale promotional ones (except for three of them released in 1986, 1996 and 2015):

1975: Martin (A: "Martin" (1975) (3:05) / B: "Ronde (Instrumental)" (1974) (1:49)) (Hexagone 881 002)
1975: J'ai vu le Loup, le Renard et la Belette (A: "J'ai vu le Loup, le Renard et la Belette" (1975) (2:27) / B: "Marions les Roses" (3:28) (1975)) (Hexagone 881 004)
1975: Marions les Roses (A: "Marions les Roses (version courte spécial radio)" (1975) (2.57) / B: "J'ai vu le Loup, le Renard et la Belette" (1975) (2.27)) (Hexagone 882 001)
1976: La Jambe Me Fait Mal (Noël est arrivé) (spécial radio) (A: "La Jambe Me Fait Mal (Noël est arrivé)" (1976) (2.00) / B: "Quand Je Menai Mes Chevaux Boire" (1976) (3.45)) (Hexagone 882 006)
1976: Almanach (spécial radio) (A: "La Fille au Cresson" (1976) (3:35) / B: "Branle de la haie" (1976) (2:05)) (Hexagone 882 007)
1978: La Chica De Berro (La Fille Au Cresson) (A: "La Fille Au Cresson" ("La Chica De Berro") (1976) (3:37) / B: "Quand Je Menais Mes Chevaux Boire" ("Cuando Llevaba Mis Caballos A Beber") (1976) (4:36) (Mediterraneo (Spain) 01.0383/6)
1978: À Paris la grande Ville (A: "À Paris la grande Ville" (1978) / B: "La danse des damnés" (1978) (Ballon Noir Bal 45001)
1986: Dormeur (A: "Dormeur (version radio 3'50)" (1986) (3:50) / B: "Dormeur (version album 4'42)" (1986) (4:42)) (Celluloïd CEL 1942) (non-promotional single)
1986: Big Science (1.2.3.) (A: "Big Science (1.2.3.)" (1986) / B: "Sorcier" (1986)) (Celluloïd CEL 1945)
1996: Marions les Roses (A: "Marions les Roses (remix 1996)" (3:16) / B: "Marions les Roses" (1975) (3:30)) (Acousteack – Boucherie Productions – BP9291-A) (non-promotional single)
2015: Jehanne (A: "Les Cendres de Jeanne" (2015) / B: "Ghjuvanna" (2015)) (self-production – only available in one format: rpm / 30 cm / 2 tracks vinyl record) (non-promotional single)

Notes

References

Bibliography

Arnaud Choutet, Malicorne, Le Mot et le Reste Edition, Marseille, June 2016, pp. 176

External links

Websites in English

, includes track listings
Hexagone years
ectoguide
interview
Official Myspace page (as of April 2011)

Websites in French

The website of Bruno Cornen
The beautiful website "Malicorne, the legend"
Website Comnet
Review in French