At the beginning of the Seventies, Martinique's indigenous music was losing ground. The island's youth prefered dancing to foreign rhythms, Cuban salsa and Haitian compa, rather than their own traditional ones which they considered out of date and lacking in swing. Having grown up together in the Terres-Sainvilles area of the island's capital, Fort-de-France, a few musician friends, led by violinist Emmanuel "Mano" Césaire, formed a musical ensemble devoted to the fusion of traditional French West Indian dance rhythms (mazurka, beguine, quadrille) and foreign influences like salsa and even jazz. Around this time, French West Indians were developing a new, independant political identity and their culture, of which music was an essential part, was a powerful medium with which to heighten public awareness of the problem.

At first made up of four violinists, Mano Césaire, Jean-Paul Soïme and Christian de Negri, and a rhythm section with Denis Dantin on drums and Marcel Rémion on bass, the group started up in 1972 under the name of Malavoi (a variety of sugar cane, but also the name of a street on the island of Gorée, off the coast of Senegal, from where slaves were sent to the Americas). At the end of the sixties, some of the group's members had played in the Merry Lads, a student band at the Lycée Schoelcher in Fort-de-France. Most of them had been to the Colette Franz music school in the fifties.

From the start, Malavoi began taking old French West Indian dance tunes, sometimes dating back to the thirties and forties, and infusing them with a skilful mix of influences: African, Brazilian, Caribbean and jazz. The fusion was an overnight success. For Martinique's older generations , the group's characteristic violin sound heralded a renaissance of a whole musical tradition. French West Indian dance halls grooved to the rhythm of several singles, including "Albé", "En lè mon là"and soon a brass section was added : two trombones and saxophone (Bib Monville). Pianist Paulo Rosine, who later became a Malavoi mainstay, also joined the group at this time. The singers, however, changed frequently during these first years: Pierre Pastel, Maurice Marie-Louise, Raymond Mazarin, Pierre Jabert and Julien Constance. Almost all band members had daytime jobs, but very quickly, as success came, they became full-time musicians.

In 1978, the group's first album, "Malavoi", came out, featuring Ralph Thamar's sensual voice - still one of the most beautiful in the French West Indies. However, despite their enormous success in Martinique, where they were playing at practically every dance, the group lost steam a bit that year. Their repertoire still consisted of cover versions for the most part, and band members were growing tired of endlessly playing the same material. They were neglecting their own composing and had the impression they were no longer doing what they really wanted. In 1978 they played for the last time at a dance in Lamentin, a town on Martinique's East coast, before disbanding for three years.

A concert in Fort-de-France marked the group's rebirth in 1983. Paul Rosine had become the group's musical director, and had had the idea of augmenting the fiddle section to ten. In the end it remained at four - the four original violinists except for Denis Dantin, whose place was taken by Philippe Porry. Another new arrival was Jean-José Lagier on cello. With congas, bongos, bass, drums and piano, the group hit the dance halls again, packed with fans who hadn't forgotten them. In the meantime another Martininque group, Kassav, had started up. The number one proponent of Zouk, Kassaf had initiated this new, highly rhythmic musical style to come out of the French West Indies in the early eighties. The two groups were complementary and became joint ambassadors of French West Indian music.

As soon as Malavoi started up again the group's fame began to spread beyond the French Antilles. Their warm, festive rhythms became increasingly appreciated by the large Caribbean community in France. A new album, "Zouel", came out in 1983, again with vocals by Ralph Thamar, but also by singer and journalist Marie-José Alie, whose composition "Caressé moin" quickly became one of the classics of French Caribbean music.

In 1983, Malavoi played at the Printemps de Bourges festival in France, afterwards touring in Brazil and in Colombia for the Caribbean festival of Carthagene. They were also awarded the Caribbean musical research prize, the Maracas d'Or, and Haitian film director Euzhan Palcy commissioned them to write the score for her film "Rue Case Nègres".

In 1984, now touring extensively, they made one of their first appearances in Paris, playing eight nights at the Théâtre de l'Hôtel de Ville. From then on they played in the French capital almost yearly. From April 29th to May 4th 1985, the played at Olympia, the most prestigious of the Parisian popular music venues.

Around 1985, they left Georges Debs, the record label specialised in French Caribbean music, to join the international label, WEA. In 1986, their third album "Case à Lucie", came out. despite Malavoi's success and the immense popularity of the new Zouk style, the disc proved that the band had lost none of its original spirit and style.

In April 1987, the group played to a packed 4000 seat house at the Zenith auditorium in Paris, the concert giving rise to a live album. The same month, they played again at the Printemps de Bourges festival before leaving on a tour of Brazil, Ecuador and Canada. In July they returned to the French West Indies to give a concert at the Centre des Arts in Point-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe.

Singer Ralph Thamar left Malavoi in 1988 for a solo career and was replaced by Pierre-Michel "Pipo" Gertrude who very quickly adapted to the repertoire written for his predecessor. Tours in 1988 took Malavoi to New Orleans, Quebec and Europe, particularly France, where they played in around twenty towns, including appearances at Olympia from May 5th - 8th and 13th to 15th. Their fourth album "Jou Ouve", released in 1988, was their last album with WEA, which they left the following year for CBS (later Sony Music). Their new recording contract opened doors in Japan where, at the end of 1989, they gave four sell-out concerts, following this up with a date at Gorki Park in Moscow.

In 1990, they played at the Zenith in Paris in January and at the Bataclan from November 2nd - 10th to celebrate the band's twentieth birthday, fourteen strong on stage with Martiniquan singer Tony Chasseur among the vocalists. The group's original core, itself subject to numerous internal comings and goings, continued to be complemented by guest artists - most of the great French West Indian musicians have played with Malavoi.

The ongoing exchange between the band and its guest artists was the theme of the 1992 album "Matebis", which means skipping school in creole. The tracks are written by Malavoi members and also traditional composers such as Loulou Boislaville. Other guests were Tanya Saint-Val, Edith Lefel, Jocelyne Beroard (the singer of Kassav), Kali and Haitian Bethova Obas. The album was followed up by numerous tours before the summer, including an appearance in New York. In July, the band was invited to the Elysée Palace, the French President's official residence, to play before François Mitterand and his guest, Abel Diouf, President of Senegal. At the end of July, they gave a series of concerts at the Parc Floral in Fort de France. Guests included Kali and pianist Mario Canonge. Then, from October 23rd - 25th, they played at the Bataclan in Paris, where they recreated the atmosphere of a genuine French West Indian dance. During the following weeks, the group stayed for several weeks on Réunion island.

In the midst of all these international tours, the group still managed to play Friday nights in a club in Rivière-Salée in Martinique.

On January 31st 1993, one of Malavoi's pillars, Paulo Rosine, died of cancer at forty-five years old. Although an exceptional composer, arranger and musician, Paul Rosine had never left his job at the Prefecture of Fort-de-France. From 86 to 89 he was vice-president of the identification commission of the SACEM (Society of Authors and Composers), which awarded him a prize for arrangement in 1988. His death was an enormous loss for French Caribbean music and for Malavoi in particular, upon whom he had left an indelible mark. On April 30th, at a concert at the Palais des Sports in Paris, Malavoi and a host of other French Caribbean artists paid hommage to their late friend. A few days later, at the Parco Floral in Fort-de-France, another commemorative concert was given.

Paul Rosine was replaced by José Privat, who had already stood in for him during his illness. Two new violinists from France, Jean-Luc Pino and Daniel Dato, also joined the group, replacing Patrick Hartwick, who left Martinique, and Mano Césaire who left the group. The promotional tour of the "Matebis" album started up again, finishing, after the French West Indies and French Guyana, with a two-night stand at Olympia on September 10th and 11th.

Following Paul Rosine's death, violinist Jean-Paul Soïme became the group's leader. In 1994, a new album " An Mannimam" (the monument), came out, a compilation of songs written between 1987 and 1993, mostly be Jean-Paul Soïme, with the vocals still by Pipo Gertrude, accompanied by Patsy Geremy, from the group, Souskay.

In February, the tour took them back Paris, to the Bataclan, where they there joined by percussionist Dédé Saint-Prix and Marie-Josée Alie. They following this up with a gig at the Paris temple of Jazz, the New Morning club, on March 20th. In summer 95 they were on tour again, in America this time, principally on the West Coast.

As hard-working as ever, the group brought out a new album, "She She" in 1996, based on the memories of a old French West Indian woman. Three new singers sang on the album, Lindsay Charnier from Réunion island, Valérie Odina and Joëlle Vielet, both from Martinique.

Coinciding with the commemorations organised for the 150th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in France in 1998, Malavoi returned to the forefront of the music scene with "Marronage." This album was followed by "Flech Kann" in 1999.

In 2000, the French copyright association Sacem attributed its prestigious Grand Prix for traditional music to the group. And later that same year Malavoi’s former lead singer, Ralph Thamar, rejoined the group for a limited series of concerts.

Putting their songwriting and studio work on hold for a while, the Malavoi musicians continued to hook up together on a regular basis to perform in public. And in 2005 a live album, entitled "Live au Club Med World", hit record stores. Meanwhile "Les Instrumentaux", a compilation of instrumental versions of Malavoi hits, joined the ever-increasing stack of Malavoi compilations available. A few months later, in March 2007, Malavoi hooked up with Ralph Thamar again for two special shows in Guadeloupe.

Malavoi lost another of its original founding members when violinist Jean-Paul Soïme died on 9 August 2007.

August 2007