Ys

Ys was a French folk band that released the 1976 Philips album Madame la Frontière.

Members: Renée Werneer (vocals, violin, tin whistle, dulcimer), Pascal Stive (vocals, clavichord), Jacky Thomas (vocals, bass), Michel Santangeli (vocals, drums, percussion), Pierre Chérèze (guitar)

Background

Ys formed in 1975 in France when violinist René Werneer, keyboardist Pascal Stive, bassist Jacky Thomas, and drummer Michel Santangeli organized a separate group from the Alan Stivell touring band with guitarist Pierre Chérèze.

Werneer was a Flemish violinist with classical training who played English and Irish folk with Gabriel Yacoub from 1971, then joined Stivell for the 1972 Olympia concert. Santangeli came from the Paris rock circuit, where he worked with Frankie Jordan, Les Pingouins, Les Chaussettes Noires, and Les Chats Sauvages. He later settled in Brittany and played with Dan Ar Braz in Les Jerrys. Stive, born in 1951, played keyboards at the Stivell Olympia concert and organ and piano on Chemins de Terre. Thomas entered the Stivell lineup on bass by the Dublin concert captured on E Dulenn.

Chérèze learned guitar without formal instruction in Paris and turned professional at age eighteen. He spent five months playing at a Club Méditerranée site in Turkey, then gigged for a year in Nantes dance bands. Bassist Pierre-Yves Sorin subsequently brought him to Paris for Triode, which recorded the 1971 Futura album On n’a pas fini d’avoir tout vu. 

The four Stivell players conceived Ys as a parallel outlet for their own music. The project coincided with a December 1975 split in the Stivell touring band. Dan Ar Braz initially planned to join Ys but changed course, and Chérèze took the guitar chair. Ys centered the repertoire on Breton, Irish, and French traditional material. In December 1975, the quintet entered Château d’Hérouville with producer Sylvain Collaro and engineer Laurent Thibault to record the Philips album Madame la Frontière. 

Discography:

• Madame la Frontière (1976)

References:

• Valérie Rouvière, Le mouvement folk en France (1964–1981), the strongest secondary source here. The thesis identifies Werneer background, formation of Ys in 1975, the Breton/Irish/French repertoire, full lineup, and the transition into Keris.
• Michel Santangeli interview in Vapeur Mauve. Santangeli describes the musicians forming Ys as a parallel outlet while associated with Stivell and discusses the subsequent split. (Rock6070)
• Dan Ar Braz official site, “Guitare Story.” This supplies the December 1975 breakup chronology, Ar Braz withdrawal, and Chérèze replacement. (Dan ar Braz)
• Pierre Chérèze interview, Guitare Live, March 2006. This provides his early guitar study, Turkey engagement, Nantes period, Sorin contact, and move into Triode. (Guitare Live)
• Michel Edelin official discography and licensed Futura/Souffle Continu material confirm Chérèze in Triode and the 1971 Futura album. (Michele Delin)
• Irish Traditional Music Archive catalog entry for Madame la Frontière. This is especially useful for the December 1975 Château d’Hérouville recording date, Philips catalog number, personnel, Collaro production, and Thibault engineering.
• Bibliothèque nationale de France authority record for Pascal Stive confirms birth year 1951 and identifies him as a keyboardist, composer, and Ys member. (BnF Catalogue)
• Becedia and the original À l’Olympia personnel documentation confirm Werneer, Stive, and Santangeli in the 1972 Stivell lineup; E Dulenn documents Thomas on bass by the 1975 Dublin recording. (bcd.bzh)