version française

in the beginning...

gabriel yacoub was born in paris, from a lebanese father [kfarkidde] and a mother from the loire region [saint benoît sur loire]

then...

gabriel yacoub is now recognized as one of france's foremost folk / pop artists, with more than 30 releases on labels throughout europe, north america and japan

yacoub first came to the fore as teenage back-up guitarist and singer with brittany's pioneering celtic harpist alan stivell in the early 1970s stivell's blend of rock and the old world inspired yacoub to form malicorne, a band that was soon to become a landmark in contemporary french music

[pierre de grenoble], by gabriel & marie yacoub was released in 1973
originally the founder of the french group malicorne, yacoub has been known to push the envelope of folk genres and pop music performance, and maintains a faithful following of crossover fans

unearthing some of france's finest jewels from its own traditional music, malicorne offered us their remarkably fresh approach, and succeeded in bringing this music into the limelight at a time when french ears were tuning into america for inspiration

for ten years, malicorne revived the magic of what some today call "world music" by integrating currently popular instruments with crumhorns, bagpipes, and hurdy-gurdies, and stunning vocal arrangements they transformed well-chosen traditional and medieval ballads, through unusual and powerful voicings, into modern songs relevant to our timescapturing the attention of the public and music professionals worldwide, they were awarded three gold records as well as the coveted grand prix de l'académie du disque français

yet yacoub did not stop there...

with malicorne at its height, he launched a solo career, and developed his own musical personality though still drawing on his traditional background

1978, his first solo album [trad.arr.], shows his taste for new textures and interpretations on a more personal level

however, his 1986 album [elementary level of faith, elf] marks a real departure for yacoub
this is his first album as a songwriter
this experimental record was compared to the likes of laurie anderson, winning great acclaim for its far-reaching technological and emotional qualities refined by his stamp of warmth and intimacy

yacoub returned to his acoustic roots with [bel] in 1990, which has become a classic in its genre
here, the emotional strength and richness of his writing and vocals are accompanied by beautifully arranged string quartets, bagpipes and guitar

the following [quatre] [1994] had been hailed as his most perfectly crafted work to date at the time
lyrics, melodies and once again superb arrangements reflect the immense experience of fifteen albums and countless influences until then ever innovative

1997 [babel] is a band album
gabriel wished to materialize the sound that himself and the musicians [same band for over 10 years at that time] managed to create over years of work, adventure, on both artistic and human sides
each musician contributed on composition
here are the themes dear to gabriel, symbols, love, communication...

1999, release of [tri]
it is a compilation of gabriel's 5 albums

2001, release of [: yacoub :] on celluloïd / mélodie
this is a collection of new songs

2002, [the simple things we said], the "american album" on simple, distributed in the usa by [cd roots]
it is a set of songs, old & new, arranged in a very simple acoustic setting

last album

2004, gabriel yacoub starts a production unit [for recordings and live shows]:
le roseau
first release, [je vois venir...], double live album distributed by harmonia mundi
[see the reviews]

live performances

in concert, yacoub leads you on a graceful journey of magical melodies, singing and guitar arrangements, with stopovers for witty song introductions in both french and english

his solo tours have taken him to over 1000 american, canadian, and european venues - a remarkable testimony to this musician's stage presence

gabriel yacoub performs as a trio, with yannick hardouin, acoustic bass, piano, vocals & gilles chabenat, vielle à roue or with the big band, with christophe pereira trompet, bugle, pierre flandin trompet, bugle, philippe chadel trombone, vincent bellier bass trombone, tuba, saxhorn

[see upcoming concert dates]