On a cold February night in 2010, three friends met for an unexpected musical evening in a small bar on Saint-Laurent boulevard in Montréal. Each brought along their good spirits and a few songs, and their will to play together led that night to the creation of Trio Populaire.
Born in Rome to Algerian parents, the self-taught Tacfarinas Kichou has developed a passion for multiple instruments such as derbouka, bendir, cajòn, riq, and bongos. Joey Mallat is a guitarist as well as an author, composer and interpreter for whom music serves as a way of reconciling his dual cultural influences, Arabic and Quebecois. The trio’s third member, Pierre Emmanuel Poizat, a professional clarinetist and sharp, inquisitive multi-instrumentalist, is involved in multiple popular, jazz and world music projects.
Drawing on diverse musical traditions, the trio’s repertoire includes original compositions inspired by Mediterranean, jazz, Gypsy and South American sounds. Simultaneously nostalgic, engaging, thoughtful, frenzied—their music doubles as an unforgettable voyage past the borders of nation and style.
Image: Christina Alonso