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Tahina Rahary
Contact with music started at a tender age. Born in Madagascar, an island paradise
in the middle of the Indian Ocean, he came from a large
family who all shared a love for good music.
At the young age of 6 he made his first moves on the drums,
and turned professional when he was 9 with his father’s orchestra “Les fréres Albert”
made up of various family members. As one of the most famous orchestras of Madagascar,
they toured the country playing Jazz music and good french
music from the 60..s.
Later, at 11 he started the guitar,
saxophone and flute, but the guitar became his
preferred instrument.
The necessity to learn
more about music spurred him on to teach himself, and to
devour every type of relevant book on the subject.
In 1982, he moved to Grenoble in France to study Law at
the university there; but ended up devoting himself full
time to music. It was at this time he received an offer
to be part of an afro-funk group “Voa Bongosso”, a definitive
launch into the European scene. The group that
included an Italian, an Angolan, a Frenchman and an Algerian
toured Germany for six months.
There they played in various Internationally renowned
places such as: Quasimodo, Quartier Latin in Berlin;
Club Voltaire in Frankfurt; Luxor in Cologne, etc.
There followed a trip to Portugal in 1984, the success
of which superseded all expectations, in various popular
venues north and south of the country. This became a
watershed experience.
In 1985 the group broke up but Tahina stayed in Portugal, living
in Lisbon and working with various renowned Portuguese artists:
Lena d’Água, Jorge Palma, Teresa Mayuko and others.
His enduring passion for jazz was nourished by his
studies of the masters like Joe Pass, Joe Diorio,
Don Mock, John Scofield and Scott Henderson and taking
on board the methods of Dan Haerle (the jazz language)
A Theory Text for jazz Composition and Improvisation,
Garrison Fewell (Jazz Improvisation),
Charlie Parker (Omnibook) and Ted Greene (Chord Chemistry).
This phase was also the beginning of a more creative period
and Tahina emerging as a notable composer.
At the end of 1987 his music “Voar” sung by Lena d’Água reached
number six in the national charts. His compositions were
premiered at the “Teatro de Comuna” and the
Hot Club of Portugal in 1988.
The end of 80’s and beginning of the 90’s saw Tahina giving lessons in jazz improvisation
and Afro-Cuban music at the Ártico Centro de Artes Interpretativas.
Now into the 90’s he recorded an Angolan singer/songwriter Filipe Mukenga’s first album
and toured with him in Brazil, France, Spain, Portugal
and Switzerland.
At the end of 1996 Tahina recorded his first CD titled “Children/Crianças”,
in which he displays his various influences such as jazz,
music of Madagascar even classical music.
FUSION is the term Tahina would use to define his music.
Some of the great names of the Portuguese jazz scene
have collaborated with him for example: Enzo
D’Aversa (piano), Yuri Daniel (bass) and Alexandre
Frazão (drums). Album recorded on RMS label, produced
and arranged by Tahina.
In 1997 and 1998, he travelled the length and breadth of Portugal with his quintet,
where besides being a style of music with less exposure,
was well received by the public.
In the middle of the1998, Tahina joined the orchestra of a
popular Portuguese comedian Herman José and recorded a
series of programs for RTP (Rádio Televisão Portuguesa),
“Herman 98” which two years later moved to another
TV channel (SIC) and is still being broadcast, with
Tahina in the front row of the orchestra.
Tahina has attended several workshops with great
masters such as Attila Zoller,
Hal Galper and Henry Martin (Composition and Analyse -
Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian Lisbon)
Tags
Pat Martino
guitar
John Abercrombie
guitar
George Benson
guitar
John Scofield
guitar
John Coltrane
saxophone
Chick Corea
piano
Joe Diorio
guitar
Pat Metheny
guitar
Charlie Parker
saxophone, alto
