CASSIYA Désiré François

The Caribbean has Kassav, the Indian Ocean Cassiya... Child of Cassis, a modest district of Mauritius, Désiré François began at the age of 16 playing his first instruments, guitar and the ravanne. He spent his days playing with friends, their influences at the time being the melodies of Ménwar, George ARMEL, Roger AUGUSTIN... It was in the mid-80s that he began to write his own compositions inspired by the social reality around him. His very first group, Zanfan Cassi, was born. Désiré began playing bass with Alain LAFLEUR on lead guitar, José FRANCOIS on drums and Eddy ARMEL on vocals and rhythm guitar. Joined by Dominique ISIDORE, Désiré and Alain start to create a repertoire with this line-up, featuring songs such as “séparation, katium, civilisation, rêve nou ancêtre, la vie martyr, l'accorité and danse morisien”. 1993, on the strength of these compositions, the album "Séparation" was released. The band decided to call themselves CASSIYA. Tours quickly followed, from the Indian Ocean to Europe, via the African continent. Cassiya became the emblematic Mauritian Sega band... This great complicity gave birth to 10 albums: “séparation, ici kot nou été, racine la vie, naryé pa éfasé, le morne, tymboli, cassiya neuf, nou amizé séga and nou destiné”. For Désiré, music was a lever, a driving force. This passion enabled him to express his ideas, his emotions and his struggles. Over the years, the group has evolved. Désiré François and Cassiya releasing 11 albums: la Vérité (2005), la Terre (2006) , best of and La Vi (2009) , "Rékonésans" (2010), and "lavénir zanfan" (2012)-single "Nou lespoir" in 2013 and 2014album "nou lespoir", 2016 album "di painn griye", 2017 album "pa badine", 2018 album "matante, 2020 "mo gran père" and 2022 "Zanfan l'Océan". The Iconic Group of Mauritian Music is on tour !