E ZinzaleBefore us,
there was them
Laurent and Sebastien didn't choose music one day: it was already there, on both sides of the family, for at least three generations.
The Lafarges
A family of the stage, where music was never a sideline but a trade, held for a whole lifetime.
Michel Lafarge
Born in Toulon, he started with music and never left it: he made a living from it for almost his whole life. He passed through several bands and performed on very large stages, notably opening for well-known artists. Among those dates, a festival in Colmar in front of more than a hundred thousand people.
In his last years, he had drifted a little from the stage: he worked as an IT trainer. After a serious accident, he had made up his mind: to stop everything else and do nothing but music.
He did not survive his injuries and passed away in January 2010, without having had the time to keep that promise. His sons have kept it since.
Serge Lafarge
Their father's brother. A singer too, he also plays bass. Music runs through the whole family.
Patrick Lafarge
Their father's other brother. A drummer, he is still active today and plays in Paris.
A great-aunt, an opera singer
Further up the father's branch, the family counts an opera singer, said to have sung at La Scala in Milan.
Family memoryThe Nicolaïs
A line of sisters on stage, one of the greatest female voices of Corsican song, an uncle who still plays with the band.
Jessie
She went on stage very young and made it her trade, under the name Jessie. A career carried on throughout her life, up to television appearances.
Brigitte
Their mother's sister, she followed the same path and shared the same stages.
André Tomasso
Brigitte's husband. A musician all his life, he has written arrangements for many bands, toured on international stages and recorded on both artists' records and film scores.
One day, at the Calvi jazz festival, a saxophonist was missing. He was called up at the last minute: he went on stage on the spot, alongside Michel Legrand.
He never talks about it. He is a man of great humility, whose standing among the musicians who worked with him says more than any biography could. He is also the only one of that generation still going on stage with his nephews: he is now part of the E Zinzale collective.
Maryse Nicolaï
Another of their mother's sisters. She is one of the great female voices of Corsican song. Her start was at the Pescadore in Calvi, then at the A Stalla cabaret, on rue Clemenceau, which quickly became the fashionable place in town.
She often sang duets with Antoine Ciosi, took part in the riacquistu of the 1970s and left behind Romantica, Isula Rossa, E tre surelle, U pastore, A tribbiera and many others. Retired to Lumio, she passed away in Calvi on 10 September 2019, aged 85.
Michelle Sammarcelli
Daughter of the eldest of the Nicolaï sisters. The next generation carries it forward. She does it on her own account: several records recorded, including a first one with Latin overtones.
She is regularly found on the island's stages and on the island's television programmes.
Joseph Nicolaï
Before the records, before television, there was him: their maternal grandfather, travelling through Corsican villages, accordion under his arm, to make people dance at village balls. That is probably where it all starts. A music that exists to bring people together and make them dance. Three generations later, E Zinzale does nothing else.
In the early 2000s, the family openly carried this thread forward: Laurent and Sebastien formed a band with their parents called GENERATIONS, where uncle André and aunt Brigitte would lend a hand. Read on in the History page →
A date in mind?
Tell us where and when. We adapt to the venue, the audience and the budget.