Tryo () is a French-language 'unplugged' ska acoustic band, popular in Europe and Quebec, with three French guitarists, a percussionist, and a producer: Guizmo, Christophe Mali, Manu Eveno, Daniel "Danielito" Bravo and Bibou. Tryo are popular in France partly due to their politically charged lyrics, whilst also showing a fun side with a range of humorous songs, especially in live performances. They take a left wing stance, criticising various French politicians such as

Charles Pasqua Charles Victor Pasqua (18 April 192729 June 2015) was a French businessman and Gaullist politician. He was Interior Minister from 1986 to 1988, under Jacques Chirac's ''cohabitation'' government, and also from 1993 to 1995, under the government o ...

(named in corruption scandals concerning suburban low cost housing or

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

, for example) in their music. The band has a "tolerant" view on cannabis, demonstrated by "La Main Verte" from the ''

Mamagubida Tryo () is a French-language 'unplugged' ska acoustic band, popular in Europe and Quebec, with three French guitarists, a percussionist, and a producer: Guizmo, Christophe Mali, Manu Eveno, Daniel "Danielito" Bravo and Bibou. Tryo are popular ...

'' album. Drug references are reduced in their later albums. They have sold 900,000 albums. They had their 10-year anniversary in 2005, followed by a nationwide tour. Tryo have four studio albums, a double CD live album and two live DVDs. Band members were also active in independent work. Christophe Mali released a solo album ''Je vous emmène'' in April 2006. Guitarist and songwriter Guizmo was part of the band Pause. In August 2012 they released new album called ''Ladilafé'', a tribute to Patricia Bonnetaud who died in February 2012. This is the first album featuring DJ Catman.

Members

*Guizmo – real name Cyril Célestin – singer, composer, musician (guitar) – Refer to separate section below *Mali – real name Christophe Petit – singer, composer, musician (guitar, accordion, piano, melodica) – Refer to separate section below *Manu – real name Manu Eveno – singer, musician (guitar, bass, oud, flute, clarinet, tablas) *Danielito – real name

Daniel Bravo Daniel Bravo (born 9 February 1963) is a French former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. With the exception of a stint at Serie A's Parma, he spent all of his career in his native France. He made 13 appearances for the France ...

– musician (drums,

djembé A djembe or jembe ( ; from Maninka language, Malinke ''jembe'' , N'Ko script, N'Ko: ) is a rope-tuned skin-covered goblet drum played with bare hands, originally from West Africa. According to the Bambara people in Mali, the name of the djembe ...

, darbouka, congas, guiro, cajón,

bendir The ''bendir'' ( ar, بندير, plural ''banadir'', ) is a wooden-framed frame drum of North Africa and Southwest Asia. The bendir is a traditional instrument that is played throughout North Africa, as well as in Sufi ceremonies; it was played ...

, bongos, violin) *Bibou – real name Sébastien Pujol – manager, sound engineer

Side projects

Guizmo

Guizmo, real name Cyril Célestin, born in the 14e arrondissement in Paris on 11 April 1972, singer, composer, and guitarist for Tryo, has had a prosperous solo career on his own. He grew up in

Cachan Cachan () is a Communes of France, commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. The prestigious École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay and École Spéciale des Travaux Publics are loc ...

in an

HLM An habitation à loyer modéré (HLM, , ), is a form of low-income housing in France, Algeria, Senegal, and Quebec. It may be public or private, with rent subsidies. HLMs constitute 16% of all housing in France.Abdallah Oumbadougou Abdallah Oumbadougou (–2020) was a guitarist from Niger. He was one of the founders of the ''ishumar'' genre of the desert blues, a politicized, guitar-driven musical genre of the ''Kel Tamasheq'' people of North Africa's Sahel. Biography Ab ...

. Desert Rebel made a tour of Niger. Other projects Guizmo was involved him included the band Pause contributing as singer, songwriter and composer. The band was made up of Guizmo (vocals), Negoos (vocals), Daniel Jamet and Olivier Mizrachi (guitars), Thomas Loyer (keyboards), Julien Bonvoisin (bass) and Sébastien Le Bon (Zeb) (drums). In spring 2012, he took part in the music collective On y pense. That collective was formed by initiative of the duo from Le Pied de la Pompe, in addition to Zeitoun (from La rue kétanou) and by Alee.

Mali

Christophe Mali known as Mali, singer, composer, musician (guitar, accordion, piano, melodica) for Tryo, real name Christophe Petit, was born in Antony, Hauts-de-Seine on 25 August 1976. He was named Mali by Slavic fellow actors he worked with at the beginning of his career as Petit, his family name translates to 'Mali' in Serbo-Croat languages. As a young kid, he was passionate about theatre, and improvisation in particular. He became part of the Antony-based theatre group Firmin Gémier, and later in theatre group Zarina Khan where he notably played Raskolnikov in a French adaptation of '' Crime and Punishment'' (in French ''Crime et Châtiment'' written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Christophe Mali himself wrote a number of theatre pieces and 'mis en scène' of musical comedies, in which he would also act and play music for. He studied for a bachelor's degree (licence) in Philosophy and Sociology, but cut short his education to concentrate in acting and music. He co-wrote the musical comedy ''Histoire de piano'' with Maïa Rubinstein. He offered roles for Emmanuel "Manu" Eveno and for Cyril Célestin (Guizmo) to act in it. This was the beginning for the eventual formation of Tryo in 1995, a 5-piece band that included Mali, Manu and Guizmo in addition to Daniel Bravo (Danielito) and Sebastien Pujol (Bibou). Mali was a singer, guitar, accordion and piano player for Tryo. Christophe Mali has also developed since 2004 a solo musical career and was involved in several projects. Influenced by Thomas Fersen, Jacques Higelin and others, he wrote about more intimate and profound subject as different from the reggae and festive air of Tryo materials. He also wrote for other artists like Jean Guidoni, Olivia Ruiz, Marina (of Star Academy) and Lambert Wilson amongst others. He also cooperated for a show with Gérald Dahan. He has also been a music consultant for Francofolies de La Rochelle. In 2011, he engaged in ''mise en scène'' in a show at Boulevard des Airs.

Christophe Mali solo discography

;Studio albums *2006: ''Je vous emmène'' (FR: #54)

Manu

Manu Eveno real name Emmanuel Eveno, also known as Numa, born 7 May 1971 is a guitarist for Tryo. He is a vocalist in addition to playing guitar, bass, oud, flute, clarinet and tablas. Manu started in 1988 with the band M'Panada that also included eventual tryo vocalist Guizmo. He was also involved in a few other bands. He met Christophe Mali for a show co-written by the latter called ''Histoire de piano'' and the three became founding members of Tryo after the musical comedy. He has also taken part in various materials for the band Pause. Manu also plays tablas for Tryo as he learned playing the instrument in India.

Danielito

Danielito, real name Daniel Bravo, also known as Ito, is the band's percussionist of Chilean origin. He studied playing percussion instruments at the music conservatory at 16, and has been in a dozen formations before joining Tryo. He plays drums,

, bongos,

darbuka The goblet drum (also chalice drum, tarabuka, tarabaki, darbuka, darabuka, derbake, debuka, doumbek, dumbec, dumbeg, dumbelek, toumperleki, tumbak, or zerbaghali; arz, دربوكة / Romanized: ) is a single-head membranophone with a goblet- ...

conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). ...

güiro The güiro () is a Puerto Rican percussion instrument consisting of an open-ended, hollow gourd with parallel notches cut in one side. It is played by rubbing a stick or tines (see photo) along the notches to produce a ratchet sound. The güiro ...

, cajón,

tambourin The tambourin is a low-pitched tenor drum of Provence, which has also lent its name to a Provençal dance accompanied by lively duple meter music. The dance is so named because the music imitates the drum (''tambour'' being a generic French term ...

, udu as well as batajon, krakebs, timbao etc. He has also taken part in the band Pause with Guzimo, another Tryo member.

Bibou

Sébastien Pujol known as Bibou, is the manager and producer for the group Tryo. He self-produced the debut album of the band ''

'' in 1998 reportedly selling 15 thousand copies of the album. He remains the director of the band (including productions, editions, shows). He also manages the reggae band Sunshiners that is made up of ex-members of Mister Gang. Members are mainly from Vanuatu. Some members of Mister Gang were recording with Tryo and that's where they met Bibou, who convinced them to launch Sunshiners. The new formation was made up of vocalist Gero Iaviniau, John Kapala, Jake Moses and Ben Siro as well as musicians Arthur Romijn (guitar), Chewinoo (drums), Toko (bass), Capt'n (keyboards), Feal Le Rouzic (saxophone), Mols (trumpet) and Thomas (trombone), Sunshiners had their debut album in June 2006, composed of reggae remakes of 1980s songs including hits by The Cure, Supertramp, David Bowie,

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

, Tears for Fears and others.

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

Live albums

Box albums

*2005: ''Mamagubida / Grain de sable'' (FR: #144) *2008: ''Ce que l'on sème / Mamagubida'' (FR: #153)

Singles

*Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts.

Featured in

DVDs

* 2002: ''Tryo et les Arrosés: Reggae à coups d'cirque'' * 2005: ''Tryo au cabaret sauvage'' * 2006: ''Tryo fête ses 10 ans...'' * 2009: ''Sous les étoiles''

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control French reggae musical groups Musical groups established in 1995