D'Gary (''Ernest Randrianasolo''; born 22 July 1961) is a Malagasy musician of Bara ethnicity. His primary instrument is the acoustic guitar.

Musical style

D'Gary's elaborate playing style is characterised by his use of

alternative tunings Guitar tunings are the assignment of pitches to the open strings of guitars, including acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and classical guitars. Tunings are described by the particular pitches that are made by notes in Western music. B ...

. His style developed from his interest in Malagasy music such as tsapiky popular in southern Madagascar and has been compared to the music produced on traditional instruments like the

Vezo The Vezo is the term the semi-nomadic coastal people of southern Madagascar use to refer to people that have become accustomed to live from sea fishing. The Vezo speak a dialect of the Malagasy language, which is a branch of the Malayo-Polynesian ...

marovany The marovany (formerly spelled marouvane) is a suitcase shaped, wooden, type of box zither from Madagascar, used in Malagasy music. It is strung on both sides with metal strings. The player plucks the strings with both hands, often with rapid alt ...

frame box

zither Zithers (; , from the Greek word ''cithara'') are a class of stringed instruments. Historically, the name has been applied to any instrument of the psaltery family, or to an instrument consisting of many strings stretched across a thin, flat ...

and the Bara's lokanga violin. In 2007, he toured through North America with the International Guitar Night ensemble and recorded the ''International Guitar Night II'' live album with the collaboration of Brian Gore (US), Miguel de la Bastide (

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

) and Clive Carroll (UK) under the Pacific Music label. In April 2009, he toured the United States as part of the Throw Down Your Heart tour with Bela Fleck and other African musicians.

Selected discography

Studio albums * ''Malagasy Guitar – D'Gary. Music From Madagascar'' – 10 February 1993 (Shanachie) * ''The Long Way Home'' (with Dama) – 15 September 1994 (Shanachie) * ''Horombe'' (with Jihe) – 21 May 1996 (Stern's) * ''Mbo Loza'' – 24 June 1997 (Indigo) * ''Akata Meso'' – 9 July 2002 (Indigo)

References

External links

RFI Musique biography

features background information and interview. 1961 births Living people People from Antananarivo 20th-century Malagasy male singers Malagasy guitarists Label Bleu artists 21st-century Malagasy male singers {{Madagascar-bio-stub