Les Mommsen - Bass Guitar and Percussion.
Les plays the acoustic bass and percussion including the Malagasy shaker style
"katsa".
He has been working with Modeste since early 2002.
Adewale Itauna Pinto - Percussion.
He has been working with Modeste since 2004
Influences
The nature, the everyday life and Modeste
Sounds Like
As it difficult to tell you how it's sound, there is a comment to let you know about it:
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
How I came to this music:
My full name is Modeste Hugues Randramahitasoa.I grew up in Betroka, a town in the central southern part of Madagascar.
The music I play is unique to the Betroka region of Madagascar where it's influenced by all the traditional sounds of the area together with some softer South African dance rhythms.
When I was about 15 years old I heard a neighbor played the guitar and I loved the sounds so much, I new from that moment that the guitar was going to be part of my life forever, so I borrowed my neighbor's guitar and started to teach myself how to play. When he moved away, I had no money to buy a guitar of my own so I built one in a workshop at a local technique college where my father was a teacher.
I used a fishing line for strings so it meant I had to hold the guitar very close to hear the sound, and even though it was difficult to play and out of tune I loved to try to recreate the natural sounds of the birds, insects and life in the village.
I was also used to hearing my mother singing and this gave me the inspiration to persevere. It not take long before I began to take interest in other musical sounds especially those of the "marovany" a 24 strings traditional Malagasy instrument, which is box shaped and played like West African "kora".
I eventually started to fuse the traditional rhythms and music of Betroka with many of the sounds that had to appealed to my senses.
I have spent years soaked in the sounds of the bush, the bird, whistling of the shepherds in the hills and it this amazing pallet that I draw on when I play
, and it is this place that I return to whenever I perform.
Thank you.
Modeste Hugues Randriamahitasoa
I edited my profile with Thomas Myspace Editor V4.4 (www.strikefile.com/myspace)
Thanks for the invite, we enjoyed your song last night!
We are playing with my Quartet at the Green Note in Camden on Friday, October 30th. (Jally on Kora, Alua Nascimento on Percussion and a mysterious Bassist)
hey, we are playing the luminaire in kilburn today(thursday), we are contacting everyone on our friends list in london hoping you can make it down, we really wana make the london part of the tour special so if you can make that would be amazing.thankyou Groanbox
Just like to make you and the visitors to your profile page aware that I am writing a challenging and uplifting blog each weekday at http://themusicianslifecoach. blogspot. com/ Please feel free to visit and to subscribe. :) Keep on keeping on! Andrew (aka The Musicians Life Coach)
