Whilst putting this website together, I re-read some articles in the press about my music. I was deeply moved by the words so many reviewers found to describe my work.
I would like to thank them now for having encouraged and stood by me throughout my sometimes perilous career.
Tamia
PRESS
When the author’s name does not appear, it means that it was not mentioned in the article.
FRANCE
Charlie Hebdo, 1972
"The kind of singer it’s sublime to see and hear." D.D.T
Jazz Magazine, 1972
"Like a fragment from a universe without boundaries, Tamia's voice marked the high point of this musical event. Francis Marmande" - [Festival de Châteauvallon avec Michel Portal], Francis Marmande
Le Monde, 1974
"What's miraculous is that these little nothings seep into the spectator's consciousness and leave him as if bewitched by the fleeting contact with perfection." Michel Cournot
Art Press, 1979
"From Tamia’s voice emerges a new echo of ways of singing or howling that have crossed time to perpetuate themselves, as well can be, in different cultures." Francis Marmande
Télérama, 1983
Tamia and Pierre Favre, the union of a singer who has a voice like an entire orchestral section and one of the most musical drummers who ever hit skins and cymbals. An exceptional duo in every way. Michel Contat
Le Monde de la Musique, 1984
This vocal acrobat is not just showing off. Tamia is first and foremost a powerful and reflective musician. There is no preconceived reference, though listeners are always on familiar ground, in a place they perhaps once visited in a dream.
Jean-Pierre Lentin
La Croix, 1984
This otherworldly voice, these internalized, ritualized gestures that seem somnambulistic in their undivided concentration, call to mind the words of French philosopher Gaston Bachelard: “You think you’re dreaming, and you remember.”
Andrée Penot (about the duo with Yano)
Le Monde, 1988
A fusion of skins and vibrations – Tamia and Pierre Favre, this duo of vocals and percussion, don’t sound like any other music in the world and yet don’t exclude any element thereof either: whether it be classical techniques or the added power of ethnic expressiveness, perfect control or dizzying improvisation. A poetic experiment conducted by two for a single dream of beauty and knowledge.
Francis Marmande, “Best Records of the Year 1988”
Le Nouvel Observateur, 1992
An invitation to travel to the ends of pure poetry, free of any artifice. Pascal Anquetil
Classica,1999
A trip through successive atmospheres as different as they are bewitching. David Sanson
Médiapart, 2016
Tamia's voices are like pearls of a necklace connected magicly by a string from island to island. Jean-Jacques Birgé
JAPON
Asahi, 1990
"The Tokyo Festival of contemporary music, 1990. Artistic Director Toru Takemitsu. At a Tamia (vocals) and Pierre Favre (percussion) duo concert, I had an inspiring experience. Despite studying the singing techniques not only of classical music, but also jazz and world folk music, Tamia’s voice is not based on any particular one. With a voice that can instantly shift between various tones ranging from clear, high-pitched tones to a husky voice that would put traditional Japanese Enka (a Japanese singing technique) to shame." Hikaru Hayashi
Missing title
"An ethereal melody of the body drifting through the aura of the astral realm. What is unfolding here is not a song. It is a woven tapestry of the transfiguration of the natural voice. Sometimes, it sounds surprisingly similar to a musical instrument." Masanori Akashi
Silvestar Club, 1987
"The album "Tamia" is a masterpiece composed solely of vocals, which vividly shows that the human voice is the "instrument" that reveals the greatest potential. Indeed, its effects also have a truly natural (and mystical) serenity." Masanori Akashi
SWITZERLAND
Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 1981
"Music of such inner consistency and richly onomatopoetic variety as is seldom heard."
Berner Zeitung, 1986
"In its emotion and sensitivity, this music, in which European and Afro-American musical traditions appear only in sublimated form, takes us furthest back towards a primeval “ur-music"."
Tagesanzeiger, 1988
"Tamia, a magician of sound, forgoing superficial effects that would show off her phenomenal vocal range, uses instead her imagination, emotions and meditative assurance to extend her vocally creative vocabulary into oniric, subconscious, even archaic realms." Johannes Anders
Die Weltwoche, 1988
"Tamia’s voice is instrument: spanning four whole octaves, from earthy noise, naturalistic animal sounds, to the purely ethereal. This, we feel, is how things would sound if they could speak. Or rather if we still had ears to hear what they say. Her voices (for they are indeed several) form an incomparable instrumentarium." Peter Rüedi
Luzerner Neueste Nachrichten
"Beauty of a higher order. A masterpiece." Meinrad Buholzer (about the album "Solitudes")
Solothurner Zeitung, 1992
"The voices of Tamia and her eight female singers transport us far from the concert hall to the sanctuary of an ancient civilization on the banks of the Nile or somewhere between the Tigris and the Euphrates. We find ourselves among shepherds, beholding a desert landscape."
Gundi Klemm
La Tribune de Genève, 1994
"Surrounding Tamia's fabulous voice, eight other vocalists constitute this Vocal Art Ensemble. All is a cappella. The magic springs from the fusion between occidental and world musics, a polyphony beyond time. The lighting increases the magical atmosphere of the music."
Tagesanzeiger, 1994
"We are entranced by the medieval austerity, simplicity, but also the cheerfulness, as well as associations with typical ethnic music from various parts of the world. Above all the spirituality and magical aura of intervals." Johannes Anders,
USA
The Village Voice, 1979
"This is the first time in a long time that I have been really knocked out by some form of experimental music that has come from the continent. This is not the excitement of raw discovery. This is the even greater excitement of hearing eight or 10 raw discoveries fully integrated, fully developed, and technically perfected." Tom Johnson
The New York Times, 1980
"Her hourlong recital found her singing along with a tape she has made. The tape itself sounds sometimes as if it must be electronically generated or altered. The effect was magical – an oceanic choral sound, ranging from low growls to insect buzzings to sweet warblings and on to an indescribable kaleidoscope of vocal effects. This is singing of a new order, accomplished with enormous musicality, technical control and poetic imagination." John Rockwell
The Village Voice, 1980
I was quite impressed by Tamia’s solo recording, and the singer’s live performances here recently have been equally impressive. She uses a number of different vocal techniques, all of which I find quite musical, and none of which could really be imitated by anyone else. Tom Johnson
Ear Magazine, 1986
Tamia of a Thousand and One Voices. Tamia is a versatile and inspired vocalist, whose career traverses the unpredictable terrain of the vanguard.
Carol E. Tuynman
GREECE
Eleftherotypia, 1992
"The tenderness of the voice of Tamia, the high priestess of vocal art, touches the spirit, and leaves it mingling amongst the elicited lace of notes from the percussion work of Pierre Favre. The serenity with which she stirs an enchanting path through Byzantines hymns is propelled suddenly but effortlessly into an intensity resonant of Indonesian ritual. Her voice is ever-so-light, yet distinct and full like the wind, and when it gathers force, succeeds in carrying away everything."
Athenorama, 1992
"The voice of Tamia seems to sail out from the bowels of a lost cosmos, from far beyond the heebives of memory, where measured dimensions have no bearing. As if in a dream. At the same time this voice gives shape to a world far into the future – every future is so remote – to a cosmic form in which there are no lines or curves : only angles. Provocative angles with their summits piercing the ears and mind. And the heart is ready to burst. As if in a nightmare..."
Costas Yiannoulopoulos Ta Nea, 1992
"Why am I so impressed with Tamia. Why is it that each time I hear her I become an explorer of hidden realms in a bucolic vocal kingdom. An adventure of the senses as a whole, for you do not go there with ears alone. If you surrender yourself to her call, you pass into an alternate state, into another level of consciousness, somewhere between insight and divine rapture."
Eleftherotypia, 1993
"Tamia, with her « Vocal Art Ensemble », launches us beyond temporal dimensions. Such transcendent virtuosity and vocal agility deserve the appellation as the high priestess of contemporary vocal art."
GERMANY
Mannheimer Morgen, 1987
"On their acoustic expeditions, Pierre Favre and Tamia explore the depths of the human soul. And that comes across to their listeners." Georg Spindler
Kieler Nachrichten, 1988
"The duo’s inventions appeal directly to our musical sense. We listen with a growing admiration." Rolf Gaska
Zitty Berlin, 1988
"While “meditative” would be the obvious adjective for this music, it does not suffice to describe the listening experience: its thought-provoking sounds defy all our listening habits – by the simplest means known to music: a voice with rhythmic accompaniment." Annette Schlünz
Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, 1988
"Simple modal vocal lines mesh with percussion textures that show an extraordinary sensibility for timbres and their contrasts." Peter Niklas Wilson
Die Union, 1991
"Suspended, poignant, beguiling, the voice of French singer Tamia seems to belong to another world altogether." Annette Schlünz
Zounds, 1992
"These dialogues on the oldest instruments known to man evoke shamanic dances, magic rituals and long-lost primal sounds. The trick to this strange and yet strangely familiar music: although the pieces are painstakingly composed, the energies flow freely. Apparent opposites are reconciled time and again. This wild and laid-back, exciting and enigmatic album eschews all the latest fashions to offer mysterious and exhilarating listening experiences." Michael Engelbrecht
Fachblatt Musik Magazin, 1992
"Confined to the essentials, to the individual and yet spectacular variety of sounds the human voice can produce and an equally vast arsenal of percussion, the music confronts our ears with “novel” and surprising sounds." Andreas Fürbach
Freiburger Jazzhaus Journal, 1993
"Tightly wrought pieces branch out on fiery tangents, which then give way to a free flow of energies. Her voice is radiantly clear, then deep-throated and gritty." Reiner Kobe
Leipziger Jazztage, 1993
"A singer in the no-man’s land between jazz and New Music. Avant-garde and archaic." Bert Noglik
ITALY
La Nazione, 1980
"Tamia's artistic search explores different sound potentialities of the human vocal apparatus, trying to connect the voice, the gesture and the body as a whole. In «Senza tempo», we discover at the core of the musical structure how composition is the basis for free invention, together with a theatrical visibility bare and essential, that is without any costume or decoration, emphasized by a discrete lighting."
Musica Jazz, 1980
"I must admit that it had been a long time since a record was able to interest and enthuse me as much as this one did. A bolt from the blue. A name unknown to me until recently, and now among the ones I love best. An essential music. Let's enjoy this genuine great singing lesson." S.A
Paese Sera, 1985
"Tamia plunges her audience in an oniric mysticism made of blessedness and transcendency." Ernesto Bassignano
AUSTRIA
Arbeiter Zeitung, 1990
"Consummate beauty in a stream of sounds. It’s as though this grand vocal artist has brought the vocal traditions of all cultures together in herself, bears them in her soul and lets them flow out in intermingled currents. " JoLi
FINLAND
Helsingin Sanomat, 1990
"A fascinating mixture of inspiration and imagination, giving the greatest pleasure to the listener. A synthesis of music from all over the world." Jukka Hauru
Aamulehti, 1995
"Tamia Vocal Art Ensemble represents the true art of sound and music, even the greatest forms of choir music stands far behind their art !" Kirsti Vanninen
Helsingin Sonomat, 1995
"By turns lyrical, or dancing and playful, this music is easily accessible." Vesa Sirén
ISRAËL
Kol Hair, 1992
"An exceptional voice. A mixture of composition and improvisation. Amazing !"
DENMARK
Missing title, 1995
"A sublime singing. Tamia of a thousand and one voices." Inge Methling
Tromsos Musikguide, 1992
"Intense and varying athmospheres, a powerful expression." Helge Matland
UNITED KINGDOM
Option, 1988
Labels are difficult and perhaps irrelevant here : the music has neo-classical restraint, and yet is also ethereal and quietly gorgeous. Her precise vocalizing, in an apparently invented tongue suggests the « art » music of lost or even alien civilizations. Bill Tilland
Audion, 1988
The music here is strange and other-worldly, spacious and quite exceptional in range of moods and textures. […] Her style - or rather – styles are her own.
SWEDEN
Västerbottens Folkblad, 1988
"Tamia's voice is as unique as the artist herself is mysterious. That voice gives rise to sounds and colors which induce the feeling that you are attending some sort of ritual in the vortex of a force field emanating straight from her vocal chords." Bill Olson
Västerbottens Kuriren, 1988
"The music is more like a sound painting, as when a visual artist uses color without ascribing any specific meaning to it. Listening to her, one feels as if what she wants to give voice to is not at all herself, but something much more universal, beyond history, something that reaches back towards our origins, something that binds us all." Leif Larsson
RADIO
From 1972, Tamia Valmont featured in a number of radio broadcasts, including:
FRANCE INTER
Le Pop-Club de José ARTHUR, on the occasion of each of her concerts and album releases
Bain de Minuit with Jean-Louis FOULQUIER
FRANCE CULTURE
Daniel CAUX - Creative radio workshop
Charlotte LATIGRAT - Tamia’s singing lessons
Jacques TARONI - Magnetic Nights, with Nancy Huston
Jean-Loup GRATON – By / with / for The Voice
And also with Maurice CULLAZ, Yanic GORNET, Eve GRILIQUEZ, Martine CADIEU, Jeanne-Martine VACHER, René FARABET
Featured in radio dramas with Claude ROLAND MANUEL, Évelyne FRÉMY
FRANCE MUSIQUE
Pierre LATTES, Joséphine MARKOVITS - Tamia with Un Drame Musical Instantané
Jean-Michel DAMIAN - Nancy Huston and Tamia / Les Imaginaires
And also with Jacques DRILLON, Olivier BERNAGER, Michel LARIGAUDRIE, Franck MALLET, Claude HERMANN, Bruno LETORT
AND ALSO ON...
RADIO LIBERTAIRE, with Gérard TERRONES
RADIO NOVA, with Jean-Pierre GILLARD, Martin MEISSONNIER
ENREGISTREMENTS DE CONCERTS
Jazz à Ris-Orangis, with Michel PORTAL - 1976
Festival de La Roche-Jagu, with Pierre FAVRE - 1976
Sens Music Meeting, with Pierre CHARPY - 1978
Festival de Sens, with Siegfried KESSLER - 1980
Uméo, in Sweden, with Pierre FAVRE - 1988
Los Angeles, Interview on KCRW, National Public Radio - 1988
Festival de Jazz de Paris with Pierre FAVRE, for the 20th anniversary of ECM - 1989
Milano, for the 20th anniversary of ECM, with Pierre FAVRE - 1989
In Germany, Interview on the NDR, broadcast by Michael ENGELBRECHT - 1992
Bern, with The Tamia Vocal Art Ensemble - 1995
TV
La 2ème chaîne
André FRANCIS : Festival de Jazz de Châteauvallon, with the Portal Unit – 1972
France 3 Centre
Concert with Pierre FAVRE – 1984
La 1ère chaîne
Bernard GELY filmed the recording of the duo with Pierre FAVRE for ECM. Oslo, 1987
M6
Pierre BOUTEILLER : Duo with Pierre FAVRE – 1988
Philippe MEYER : Tamia’s solo in « L’Inhumaine » by Marcel LHERBIER, music of Jean-Christophe DESNOUX
France 3 Bretagne
Les Tombées de la nuit, duo with Pierre FAVRE - 1989