Modeste

* Artist of the Year 2008 - International Art Society / Greece

World music star if there ever was one - The Guardian October 2009

Modeste at St. Ethelburga's. Saturday 11th July. Modeste Hugues is like malt whisky, best appreciated unadorned. In the same way that adding anything to a fine aged single malt actually detracts from its complex flavours, so Modeste's plaintive voice & extraordinary guitar style only gets masked by accompaniment. At least that's what I thought until last night at St Ethulburgas when, joined by the musical soda water & ice of bassist Les Mommsen & percussionist Adriano Adewale, he gave the best performance that I've ever witnessed. The trio opened with a couple of fast choppy numbers, but really hit their stride with a ballad (bringing the gentle power of Modeste's voice to the fore) & held a grip for the next hour or so. My 14 year old daughter & a couple of her friends had come along with me & some way in to Modeste's set I started to worry that they might be getting bored. I looked over to where they'd been sitting but they weren't there. They were up out of their seats & dancing! Jamie Renton - CHARLIE GILLETT the sound of the world

"ROOTS". Garry a ouvert la voie sur le plan international. Un autre grand musicien du sud de Madagascar lui emboite le pas. Modeste R, un virtuose de la guitare, fait vibrer le public des festivals. Son ami D'Gary est considéré par les spécialistes comme l'un des plus grand guitaristes actuels car il tire de son instrument des sonorités exceptionnelles. La participation de ce dernier au grand concert donne en l’honneur de Nelson Mandela montre la considération qu’on lui témoigne. Modeste Randriamahitasoa n’en est pas encore la, mais sa notoriété musicale grandit de jour en jour. Ill sait metre en valeur ce terroir musical du sud qui recele une si grande richesse. Les festivals auxquels il a participé depuis quelques années sont aitant de témoignages éloquents de son grand talent. Son dernier album “fomba: living our destiny” rst un petit bijou qui permet de se plonger dans ces “roots” du sud et, a l’écoute donne la chair de poule. L e jeune home, originaire deBetroka, qui avait quitté le pays pour faire des études supérieures, a préféré abandoner une carrière prometteuse d’ingénieur en électronique pour se consacrer a la musique, sa passion. Aujourd’hui, il ne regrette rien car il vit bien de sa musique et il marche sur les traces de son ainé. Quand Modeste fait un bref retour sur son passé, il n’en revient pas du chemin parcouru depuis ses premiers morceaux grates sur une guitare qu’il avait luiméme fabriqée. A Betroka, il était alors émerveillé par la virtuosité de son oncle acordéoniste. Mais, c’est la guitare qui lui permettra de faire ressortir ces sonorités musicales traditionnelles mélangées aux rythmes sudafricains. Musicien amateur, il ne cessera de jouer dans des fétes locales. Mais l’obtention d’une bourse de L’UNESCO lui permet de poursuivre ses etudes supérieures en Bulgarie. Il jumelle etudes et musique. Diplome d’ingénieur en électronique en poche, il s’installe en Grece, pays de sa femme et travaille dans une grande firme. Mais la passion de la musique est la plus forte et il s’envole pour Londres en 1996. Il se fait tres vite connaitre du milieu musical. Les louanges se multiplient après chaque participation a de grands festivals. La sortie de son nouvel album “Fomba” qui sort après un long séjour en terre Malgache est un événement. En tout cas, la carrièrre de Modeste est en train de prendre un veritable essor. Mardi 08 Jullet 2008 / Patrice RABE

MODESTE HUGUES RANDRIAMAHITASOA - 1st PRIZE OF THE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL INTERARTIA 2008 IN THE CATEGORY OF WORLD MUSIC - HELLAS(GREECE)

COMMENTS FROM CD BABY: # You Go Boy ! author: distant drummer... First of all, thank you Modeste for such absolutly brilliant music! Anyone listening to the samples can see how talented Modeste is, but play the cd for a few weeks, and you won't want to listen to anything else. Spirit, Virtuosity, Inventivesness, Heart, Vision, Power...what more could you want from a musician. This is true greatness!... # One of the great Mali musicians! author: Ammon Haggerty... I've long been a fan of Ali Farka Toure who I closely associate with "Mali music". I've found many wonderful musicians from Mali, but Modeste's music is by far the best I've found - even outshining Toure himself. There's something incredibly sweet and comforting in his music that feels like a magic spell. I can listen this this album and his other album (unfortunately not on cdbaby) all day long. Highly recommended!! # GREAT ALBUM... author: SHANE... I SAW THE ARTIST AT PANARTIST.COM WITH SONG AGAPIMU , I LIKED IT SO MUCH THAT I BOUGHT THE ALBUM HERE. GREAT ALBUM!!

After spending months in Madagascar, Modeste is back and recording his new album which will be out this year. His ability is never end. Don't miss out every chance to see him live.

MODESTE - HEATWAVE 2006 TOUR @ The Welfare, Ystradgynlais, Swansea SA9 1JJ, Tel:01639 843 163

Fomba living our destiny (Space Shop) Music from Madagascar has yet to make much impact on European world musiccirclesbut if Modeste Hugues Randriamahitasoa (known, sensibly enough, as Modeste) has anything to do with it, that’ s about to change. Like his compatriot Jaojoby, who stormed this year’ s Glastonbury festival with his exuberant brand of salegy dance music, Modeste knows how to get his listeners moving. But his style is really rather simple. He wrote all the songs on this album himself, and provides the backing vocals as well as lead vocals, guitar and bass. No wonder the blend sounds so impeccable. Much of the time, it’ s just him, his guitar, and a sackful of rhythms. Emma Gregg – Winter 2005/2006 Travel Africa

Modeste’ s “Kopaka” from his second album Fomba/living our destiny won him place finalist at Independent Music Award (IMA) 2006.

Reviews and previews MODESTE SOUNDS ENCHANTING SOUNDS OF AFRICA BY MODESTE HUGUES Magical – Modeste performed at the Civic Theatre, Chelmsford. The last world music event in Chelmsford, organised by local promoter Gilda Sebastian, featured the return of a musician with a big talent and a name to match. Madagascan guitarist/songwriter Modeste Hugues Randriamahitasoa, known professionally as Modeste, made his Essex debut in Chelmsford a year ago to enthusiastic acclaim. Billed as the man from “the wild and mysterious Indian Ocean island”, Modeste is a gentle-voiced performer of extraordinary musical dexterity. With Portuguese percussionist Oli Savil and bassist Les Mommsen from Zimbabwe, Modeste stole the show at last year’ s Womad Festival when he appeared on Radio 3’ s World On Your Street stage. Another such performance was delivered at Chelmsford on Saturday, the audience being lulled by the band’ s trance-inducing accompaniment to lyrics in a variety of languages, each number winning a storm of applause. This years’ s set focused as much on the tinkling riffs and poly rhythms of Southern Africa as on Modeste’ s native island Malagasy style. Chelmsford’ s biggest auditorium takes some filling and Modeste hasn’ t quite managed a full house yet. The tens of thousands who flock to big summer events like Womad, perhaps haven’ t yet realised they can get a winter to-up of these magical sounds at their local theatre. But judging by the enthusiastic comments overhead in the bar during Saturday’ s interval, a full house could be on the cards next time. GILL MARINER, EVENING GAZETTE 22/02/2006 AND WEEKLY NEWS 23/02/2006

FOMBA - Space Shop Records MODSSCD2 **** A Malagasy one-man band Track one on this CD, "Fomba, had me out of my seat and dancing on my first Listen. Tha's quite an achievement for just one man with a guitar. Thankfully, there was no one to witness my living-rroom shuffle, but it testifies to what is a superbly infectious album. Originally from Madagascar, UK-based Modeste plays a form of Malagasy music rich with rolling guitar-picking patterns that weave a hypnotic carpet of sound. Across this Modeste layers further,stunningly intricate lines, the tonal qualities of which hover somewhere between "kora" and piano. It's a sound that's typical of Malagasy guitar, wherein players imitate the piano by using a capo and re-tuning the bass strings to get that high ringing sound. Modeste plays most of the instruments on the album, but is joined by percussionist Adriano Silva Pinto on "Zanakao Rafoza 2" and on two other tracks. Pinto's bongos add extra drive to a song that asks "can I take your most treasured possession, your daughter as my bride?" Yet, even when it's just Modeste you're listening to, it never sounds like the work of one man. There's a playful interaction between bass and guitar, a call-and-response that suggests a studio full of musicians jostling for posistion. In the middle of the Indian Ocean, Malagasy music has evolved independently from the rest of Africa; you can hear tracks traces of "soukous" and highlife in Modeste's playing, but there's an intriguingly "baroque folk" tinge to tracks such as "kopaka". This is a joyful album, and one that should be on everyone's must-have list. Matt Swaine - SONGLINES, NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2005

Shetland Folk Festival 2005 / Madagascan should not be Modeste in Voe/ Modeste – who is originally from Madagascar – was joined by Zimbabwean Les Mommsen on bass guitar and Adriano Pinto from Brazil, who made the most unlikely of sounds with a wide array of fascinating percussion instruments. “A band who have instruments,” was all Frank Robb could think to say by way of an introduction, but in truth, Modeste and his fellow musicians speak for themselves. The fact that you couldn’t understand the language he was singing in didn’t matter – Modeste’s music transcends all cultural barriers, and offered a truly memorable performance that proved to be Friday night’s highlight by far. RT – The Shetland Weekly newspaper 03/05/05

Shetland folk Festival 2005 /Music man Modeste has his day/ MODESTE WAS man of the moment once more, when he appeared in the Voe Hall on Saturday. The skilful guitarist immediately endeared himself to the crowd with his unique style. By close of play, chairs were being wilfully abandoned in favour of the dancing space in front of the stage. Even those who didn’t leave their seats sat mesmerised by Modeste’s hypnotic melodies and serene vocals. Ably accompanied by his colleagues on bass guitar and percussion, Modeste brought musical entertainment onto an entirely new plain. They may have been dressed as if ready to decorate the living room, but their musical style proved as captivating as ever. In the end, there were celebratory hugs all round from the witty, bald-headed compere, Frank Robb. Modeste had stolen the show, and was running all the way back to Madagascar with it, as well. RT – The Shetland Weekly 03/05/05

Award winning songwriter, Modeste Hugues Randriamahitasoa – just call him plain Modeste – is a UK – based acoustic and electric guitarist from Madagascar with a style that is modern and dance orientated. The slow burn of his soaring voice, the quiet storm of his devastating guitar and the gentle rhythmic workout dispensed by his band make him ideal for this early evening slot on our main stage. Rise - London United 2005 – 16/07/05

Yet these days we are blessed by some truly world class artists living in our midst and we really ought to celebrate them more. A case in point is Madagascar’s Modeste Hugues Randriamahitasoa. Over the past few years he’s emerged as a delightful performer – a really nimble fingered and melodically satisfying guitarist out of the same regional tradition as D’Gary, whose gently vocalised songs are becoming increasingly impressive. On this, his second album, he’s done a beautiful job of playing all the sinuously winding guitar parts, burling bass, neatly understated percussion and vocal harmonies so naturally that without checking the notes you’d never realise it was an overdub construction at all – sounds just like a group of first class Malagasy musicians enjoying live in the same room. Hard job to pull off, I can assure you, but perhaps essential as the Malagasy population of the UK is numbered in tens! Now, you’ll have to take my word for it, but I hear a lot of Malagasy music and tracks like "kopaka" with its immaculately picked guitar and skittering shaker are as good as anything being made in the same field back home. Distributed by Stern's, or see www.modeste.co.uk. fROOTS isssue Aug/Sep 2005 No 266/267. Ian Anderson – fROOTS / THE ESSENTIAL WORLDWIDE ROOTS MUSIC GUIDE / www.frootsmag.com email: froots@frootsmag.com

THE NEW ALBUM FOMBA IS OUT ON THE SHOP. YOU CAN ORDER YOUR COPY NOW FROM www.sternsmusic.com (THE OFFICIAL DISTRIBUTOR) OR JUST CLICK ON THE LINKS

Modeste has won first place in the World Music category of the International Songwriting Competition!
[Click here to see Modeste's name in the list of winners]

What People are Saying about Modeste

Enchanting Sounds of Africa, Modeste, Civic Theatre, Chelmsford, Essex, UK. FROM the very first time he struck the guitar one could see Modeste longing for his home country of Madagascar. Here was a person trying to get to terms with being away from a country he grew up in, a place he loved and of which he had lots of memories – an environment which still occupied vast territories in his mind. It is this that brought passion to his music. The sound was unmistakably Africa, a kind of dancing rhythm which suffused all Modeste’s own compositions. Deliberately simple, his lyrics were poignant and spoke of love, forgives, of a distant land. While he could have easily carried the whole show off by himself, Modeste’s guitar playing was exceptionally good and he had a snug, resonant voice. We were also treated to excellent bass guitar accompaniment by Zimbabwe-born Les Mommsen, and percussion by Brazilian Adriano Pinto, who was amazingly dexterous on the calabash. Some songs were slow, quiet and enticing while others reverberated with wild sounds. Modeste was not only using the guitar to produce the lilting Malagasy melodies but also rhythm by using it as a percussive instrument. Adriano was given into ecstatic hopping as he hand-beat the calabash. Les, on the other hand, put all this heart into his guitar, smiling his big smile. It wasn’t surprising that some of the audience just got up and started to dance. The rest of us just participated by rhythmic clapping as music imbued our inner depths.
-- Rasik Bhadresa of East Anglican Daily Times

Chilly night blunts the dancing, Enchanting sounds, OF AFRICA, Civic Theatre. HAD this not been Chelmsford on a chilly winter’s night, but Womad, Glastonbury, or the megafestival of summer, Modeste and his band would have had us all dancing in the aisles. As it was the Civic saw a carefree handful of fans rise from their plush seats and bop unselfconsciously to the driving rythmns of Africa – while the rest of us sat politely entranced by these kings of world music. Modeste Hugues Randriamahitasoa writes his won songs of love, repentance and travel which he delivers in a huskily mesmerising voice over a stonkingly original guitar style. Original to the West , that is, for the distinctive Malagasy guitar sound from Modeste’s remote island home of Madagascar has morphed from many styles including European classical, Hawaiian and African. All is beautifully set off by the fly-fingered percussion on bongos and calabash of Brazilian Adriano Pinto and subtle work from Zimbabwean Les Mommsen on Malagasy shakers and bass guitar.
-- Gill Mariner - Chelmsford Borough Councill of Weekly news - Essex UK

Modeste fait son trou au pays des Beatles ( paru le 1/9/2004 ) La fière Albion devient peu à peu perméable à la musique malgache. Après Tarika, qui a bénéficié d'un tremplin de choix avec Ian Anderson et le magazine "Folkroots", voici Modeste Randriamahitasoa. Sans tambour ni trompette..
-- Les Nouvelles
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The foyer of the National Theatre may not be the most obvious place to go to hear world music, but I was one of the many passers-by who felt compelled to stop and listen when Modeste and his musicians took the stand. He delivered his opening song in a whisper, but it was enough to halt conversation among the sandwich-munchers; even the nobs in the restaurant above looked down and cocked an ear.
-- Michael Church of the Independent
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Modeste is an ace musician, razor sharp, endlessly inventive, his warm songs coloured by exuberance, tenderness, and buckets of joie-de-vivre.
-- David Ingram of Penguin Eggs
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Hugues is a pleasingly smoky-toned singer and a fine guitarist, able to play rhythm and lead all at once. He's so effective in this musical sleight of hand that audience members scan the stage in search of a (non-existent) second guitar player.
-- Jamie Renton of the Independent
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With the almost endless variety of rhythms, tempos and styles, and with a growing UK-based population of talented Malagasy musicians such as Modeste, there's no reason why the unique and distinctive style of the Indian Ocean's jewel shouldn't break a few barriers here, too.
-- John Armstrong of the BBC
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