© François Rosenstiel
© François Rosenstiel
Christopher
Jacques
Guitars
A songwriter, he studied and worked on classical guitar in Geneva and the classical South American repertoire with Jorge Cardoso (Madrid Conservatory). At the same time, he played in various rock'n roll bands while continuing his studies. Subsequently, he trained in sound and light at the University of Leicester (GB). His training allowed him to work with international artists as a studio director and sound engineer (Gillie Mc Pherson, Adel Salameh, They Call Me Rico, Chems, ...) and national artists (Maurice Merle, Tonynara, Fun Carmen, ...). Co-founder of the record label C'est Pas Des Manières) of which he is now artistic director, plays with Soulaÿres, and composes for dance bands and documentaries. He is the lead guitarist of the band Vidala.
Severine
Soulaÿrès
Songs, guitars
Singer-songwriter, she trained in singing with Isabelle Eschenbrenner at the Centre de la Voix in Rhône Alpes (Lyon). She started playing guitar at the age of 15. Bodhran and mandolin complete her instrumentarium. Nourished by world music, she sang and composed with Fun Carmen, (mixed Afro rock song) from 1991 to 2008. In 2004, she co-founded the Trio Soulaÿrès then SoulAÿrès (mixed South American, Celtic and oriental folk rock). In 2010, she joined Avelsinn (Irish music) on vocals, guitar and bodhran. A fan of foreign languages as well as world songs, Séverine was cradled by the voices of Mercedes Sosa and Joan Baez. Conquered by the new generation of voices such as Lhasa de Sela, she began to explore the songs of Víctor Jara, Violeta Parra, and Atahualpa Yupanqui, a path that would lead to the creation of Vidala with Christophe Jacques on guitar and Myriam Essayan on percussion and backing vocals.
© François Rosnstiel
© François Rosnstiel
Raphaele
Frey-Maibach
Percussion, choirs
A percussionist with a classical background in institutions, it was after meeting her master El Goyo that she turned resolutely towards the music of Cuban oral traditions. Since then, she has enriched her knowledge during her travels to Cuba with Alberto Villareal, Millian Gali and Maximino Duquesne... She strives to develop the close cross-links that unite percussion with song and dance, practicing the three elements with equal joy through encounters and projects. She is at the origin of the creation of the group Habla' Tambores which for almost 25 years has been working to disseminate and promote Afro-Cuban culture. Very involved in the mechanisms of transmission, she leads Cuban music workshops at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Lyon (69) and regularly intervenes for continuing education organizations and in schools. Open to meetings and exchanges, she participated in the creation of "A Foolish Love", a project mixing jazz, funk and traditional music with Gérard Maimone, Jean Cohen, Tom Bad and Jérôme Duvivier. She accompanied Mona, a pop-rock singer, and was part of the a capella vocal trio Girl Talk, for which she made most of the arrangements. She holds a DE in traditional Afro-Cuban music with a percussion option, obtained at CEFEDEM in Lyon in 2002. She joined VIDALA in February 2020.
Baptiste Romano
Percussion, choirs
A musician of encounters, he expresses his art on diverse and varied stages ranging from the theater stage to jazz cellars, passing through hospital rooms to ephemeral algecos and even in the street, the primordial scene of all artistic expressions. The joy of living is his driving force and music his vehicle. His almost mystical encounter with Louis Armstrong singing gospel at ten years old, his studies at the ENM of Villeurbanne in the department of Cuban and Mandingo music at twenty, and his interventions in hospitals at thirty-five, gave him an awareness of the quality of care that music can bring to its listening and its practice. A long-time friend of VIDALA, he appears occasionally on a few dates of the trio for a few replacements before integrating more fully into this beautiful adventure where he becomes in 2020 a true 4th element for some big occasions to come...