Tanya St Val

After a spell with the Vikings de Guadeloupe, she joined the Daniel Forestal orchestra, where she met Dominique Zorobabel, a future singer with Zouk Machine. At the same time, she continued singing Ella Fitzgerald songs at local dances in Guadeloupe. She then met Pierre-Edouard Décimus, manager of the group Kassav who introduced her to the French Caribbean recording studios, where she soon got regular work as a backing singer.

In 86, After several months touring with Experience 7 and Zouk Machine, she brought out her début album, “Tanya Saint-Val”, a deliberately zouk production which she followed up two years later with a second album with the same title.

Following a third solo album in 89, “Zouk à Gogo”, which contained the hit single “Lanmou kréyol”, in 91 she brought out “Soul Zouk”, a subtle blend of zouk and soul with contributions by Jacob Desvarieux, Patrick Saint-Eloi, the ever-faithful Willy Salzedo, and Jean-Michel Rotin, to name but a few. The album put Tanya Saint-Val on the map outside the confines of the French Caribbean world, and was in the Top 50 (the French charts) for 14 weeks.

1994: “Pou Zot”

For her second album for a multinational record company (Phonogram), the beautiful singer from Guadeloupe wrote the three titles which comprised “Pou Zot”, released for the Christmas market in 1994.

At the same time, she worked with Willy Salzado on a new album, “Mi”. That same year, she went on tour with French rock singer Johnny Halliday with whom she sang a duet.

She became more and more a part of the French music scene and in 95 she did support act for Michel Sardou. But she went back to her roots the following year with(still on the Phonogram label) the “Améthiste” album, another collaboration with Jean-Michel Rotin.

After taking a break from the music scene (which ended up lasting several years) Tanya Saint-Val made a major comeback at the end of 1998 with an album entitled “Secret”. “Secret”, which found Tanya branching out in a new direction and experimenting with ‘zouk-love’, nevertheless tackled some heavy subjects such as the abolition of slavery and the question of Antillais identity (on the song “Solitude”). “Tant de temps”, Tanya’s moving duet with Sonia Dersion, also evoked the subject of childhood. Tanya Saint-Val declared that “Secret” was her most “personal” album to date. The singer supervised absolutely everything on the album except the musical arrangements (which she left in the very capable hands of Frédéric Wurtz).

Tanya Saint-Val brought the house down when she performed at Le Zénith in Paris on June 2nd 2000, inviting an impressive list of guest stars including Dédé Saint-Prix and the Bisso Na Bisso collective fronted by French rap star Passi up on stage with her. (Interestingly enough, Tanya had guested on Bisso Na Bisso’s album, “Racines”, in 1999.

Tanya returned to the music news in 1999, taking part in Passi’s Bisso Na Bisso project for which she earned a gold disc. The following year the Antillaise diva celebrated 15 years in show business performing a special concert at Le Zénith in Paris on 2 June 2000. The concert which included guest appearances by a host of Tanya’s music friends – including French rapper Lady Laisttee, Bisso Na Bisso, Dédé St Prix and Akiyo – was broadcast live on television in the Antilles. A live album of the show was also released to mark the occasion.

2002: “Ansanm”

Six months after the birth of her twin sons, Tanya Saint-Val returned to the forefront of the music scene in 2002 with a new album entitled “Ansanm”. This joyous zouk offering, which included a few forays into the blues universe the singer loves so much, featured contributions from a host of leading music stars including the Haitian singer Emelyne Michel and renowned Antillais artists Frédéric Caracas, Dominique Panol and Dominique Coco. For the first time in her career Tanya also chose to sing a song by her father, Tino Saint-Val and made a brief trip down memory lane with a superb cover of her first ‘zouk love’ hit, Sa mwen ka mandéw (which she had originally recorded some 15 years ago).

Her warm, sensual voice and incontestable professionalism have made Tanya Saint-Val one of the most glamorous stars of French Caribbean music.

On 16 December 2002, Tanya took to the stage at the legendary Paris music venue L’Olympia for a special one-off concert.

In 2003, Tanya travelled further afield, performing a number of concerts in the United States and Canada. A few months later, she scooped two “Sacem Guadeloupe” awards, picking up an award as “Best Female Artist of the Year” and “Best Album of the Year.”

In 2004, Tanya teamed up with fellow Antillaise star Dominique Zorobabel (from the group Zouk Machine) and the pair went into the studio to record “Noël Gospel.” The album, released in the run-up to Christmas , featured a series of Christmas classics and personal compositions set to funky zouk, R&B and ragga rhythms. But the duo claimed their songs of praise and message of peace and love were not limited to the festive season. (Indeed, a sequel to “Noël Gospel” could soon be in the pipeline). 

Six months later, Tanya Saint-Val fans were treated to “Paris > New York > Live”, a double album recorded live at the legendary Sob’s in Manhattan. On this prestigious occasion the Guadeloupean star was accompanied live on stage by the Haitian group New York All Stars. The show revolved around knock-out performances of most of Tanya’s hits and also included a moving rendition of “Edith” (a song her father wrote as a tribute to Edith Lefel, the popular Caribbean singer who died at a tragically young age in January 2003).

On 10 May 2006, Tanya Saint-Val headed out to Senegal to take part in the first International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition. As part of the commemorations, Tanya performed a special concert on the isle of Gorée with Jacob Desvarieux, Angélique Kidjo and Youssou N’Dour.

Tanya ended the year with two major concerts, performing at the Atrium in Fort-de-France and the Arts Centre in Pointe-à-Pitre where she wowed the crowd with her “100% zouk – 100% TSV” show.

Tanya St Val still tours the world …..