Tanya Saint-Val

The story so far.

Written and edited by Smokiller

Tanya Saint-Val, also credited as Tanya St-Val, was born in Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe, on 15 December 1965. A profile on Outremer Memory says her father Tino Saint-Val was a crooner and that she first recorded at age nine in 1974, a single called Noël aux Antilles backed by Les Vikings de la Guadeloupe. In 1983 she joined Vik'In, led by Willy Salzedo, and in 1984 she met Kassav' manager Pierre-Édouard Décimus and toured with Expérience 7 and Zouk Machine. Her self-titled first zouk album, produced by Salzedo in 1986, carried Mété'w Cool, Tamboo and Stop. Later releases include Zouk à Gogo (1989), Soul Zouk (1991), Mi, Améthyste (1996) and Secret (1998), the album where she leaned toward zouk love. She appeared on Malavoi's Matebis in 1992, joined Passi's Bisso Na Bisso project in 1999 and played the Zénith of Paris on 2 June 2000. France-Antilles notes she now lives in Sainte-Anne.