The brainchild of French music genius Gabriel Yacoub, Malicorne was formed after he and his then wife, Marie, spent some time in Alan Stivell's pioneering Breton unit in the late '60s. The original, innovative lineup used antique instruments to play peasant songs with haunting harmonies and integrated rock rhythms. Pierre de Grenoble (1973), although recorded before Malicorne came into being, set the style and manner of the band. Initially a four-piece, the Yacoubs were joined by Laurent Vercambre (violin) and Hughes de Courson (bass/woodwinds). Their finest set in this form was their third album, Almanach, a song cycle inspired by the turning year, and based on rustic folklore. A commercially successful tour of France was followed by the recruitment of a fifth member, Oliver Zdrzalik (bass/percussion), who appeared on their self-titled third release in 1976. Two excellent live recordings preceded further fundamental personnel changes and the birth of a new unit, with Vercambre leaving and ex-Gryphon bassoonist Brian Gulland, Patrick Le Mercier (guitar), Dominique Rejeff (vocals), and Jean-Pierre Arnoux (drums, percussion) coming into the lineup. Le Bestiare, a bizarre "animalistic album, a story of French country folk," was the only recording by this lineup. The Yacoubs, Zdrzalik, Arnoux, and Le Mercier cut one final set in 1981 before splitting up. In 1986, an intended Gabriel Yacoub solo session was reorganized as a Malicorne piece. The Yacoubs, with Arnoux, Olivier Kowalski (bass/guitar) and Michel Le Cam (violin/mandolin), recorded the industrial-sounding Les Cathedrales de l'Industrie. This lineup became Gabriel Yacoub's own band, and, with the addition of Nikki Matheson (keyboards), played both Malicorne and Yacoub solo material. Yacoub's own albums are all distinct, ranging from traditional folk and chamber music to bizarre electronic pieces. Yacoub married Matheson in the late '80s, and they toured regularly as an acoustic duo. Gabriel Yacoub died on January 22, 2025, at the age of 72. ~ TiVo Staff, Rovi