D'Gary is a Madagascan

Madagascar

The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...

 musician

Musician

A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

 of Bara ethnicity. His primary instrument is the acoustic guitar

Acoustic guitar

An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...

.

Musical style

D'Gary's elaborate playing style is characterised by his use of alternative tunings

Guitar tunings

Guitar tunings almost always refers to the pitch of the open string, though some tunings may only realistically be attained by the use of a capo on an unmodified instrument....

. His style developed from his interest in Madagascan music such as tsapiky popular in southern Madagascar and has been compared to the music produced on traditional instruments like the Vezo

Vezo

The Vezo is the term the semi-nomadic coastal people of southern Madagascar use to refer to people that have become accustomed to live from sea fishing. The Vezo speak a dialect of the Malagasy language, which is a branch of the Malayo-Polynesian language group derived from the Barito languages,...

's marovany

Marovany

The marovany is a type of steel-string box zither from Madagascar, used in Malagasy music.-External links:*...

 frame box zither

Zither

The zither is a musical string instrument, most commonly found in Slovenia, Austria, Hungary citera, northwestern Croatia, the southern regions of Germany, alpine Europe and East Asian cultures, including China...

 and the Bara's lokanga violin

Violin

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

.

In 2007, he toured through North America with the International Guitar Night ensemble and recorded the International Guitar Night II live album with the collaboration of Brian Gore (US), Miguel de la Bastide

Miguel de la Bastide

Miguel de la Bastide is a Trinidad born Flamenco composer and virtuoso guitarist who first appeared on the scene in 1996 on the CD compilation Flamenco: Fire and Grace under the record label Narada Productions that placed him alongside some of Spain's most prominent guitarists, including Paco de...

 (Trinidad

Trinidad

Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...

) and Clive Carroll (UK) under the Pacific Music label.

In April 2009 he toured the United States as part of the Throw Down Your Heart tour with Bela Fleck

Béla Fleck

Béla Anton Leoš Fleck is an American banjo player. Widely acknowledged as one of the world's most innovative and technically proficient banjo players, he is best known for his work with the bands New Grass Revival and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones.-Early life and career details:Fleck was born in...

and other African musicians.

Selected discography

Studio albums

• Horombe – 21 May 1996 (Stern's)
• Mbo Loza – 24 June 1997 (Indigo)
• Akata Meso – 9 July 2002 (Indigo)

External links

• RFI Musique biography
• GITARA GASY! by Ian Anderson features background information and interview.
• D'Gary's first album
• D'Gary on YouTube