Eloï Capgras: Caribbean musician making soulful sounds in Paris. One thing this city is never short on is great music from around the world, including the Caribbean sounds of Eloï Capgras and his band ABDM (Au bout du monde). And you can hear them this weekend (details are below).
From the island of Martinique, Eloï grew up in a house filled with music: his grandfather, a carpenter, made his own guitar just to play around the house and his mother’s voice always filled the air with song. Eloï’s mother has clearly played a central role in his life. She remains very important to him; she is his inspiration and motivation. On Martinique, she worked on banana and sugar cane plantations. While I have not met her, I imagine her to be incredibly strong, both physically and spiritually.  Hamad, the drummer Eloï and his mother moved to Paris when he was 16 years old. An interior designer and vocalist by training, Eloï won his first guitar in a carnival game when he was 20. He soon became a singer/songwriter and taught himself how to play the guitar. All of his pieces are original (he composed his first song when he was 12, spoofing his father) and when he sings, he thinks of his mother. Eloï’s music comes from his soul. Melodies sometimes find him in his sleep and when he wakes up, he sticks them to his guitar and writes down the notes and then adds lyrics.
Eloï’s music comes from his soul. Melodies sometimes find him in his sleep and when he wakes up, he sticks them to his guitar and writes down the notes and then adds lyrics. 
He has produced one CD with ABDM with all French lyrics and is currently composing songs with English lyrics for his next CD. He feels more soulful, more poetic, his most expressive when he composes in English. 
His sound is very much his own and represents a fusion of sounds from his childhood in the islands and the local music there, combined with the American and British rock and roll and blues sounds he listened to on the radio, combined with the soft funk of French rock and even a bit of jazz. Eloï’s sound is rounded out with his deep, full voice and his band. His drummer, Hamad, moved here five years ago from Cairo, Egypt. He had fallen in love with and married a French girl and followed her here. That story hasn’t exactly worked out as planned, but Hamad is very happy living in Paris. He has learned French and plans to stay here. He tells me this is a great city to play music in.  Bertrand, the bass player Eloï’s bass guitarist is a young quiet Frenchman named Bertrand. He is an extremely talented, classically trained bass player who creates smooth jazzy sounds. During a practice session that I sat in on, while the rest of the band took a coffee break, Bertrand kept practicing and I got a very pleasant private bass concert. For a big fan of the world’s best-known bass player—Paul McCartney—this is a special treat. Eloï has a sweet disposition and a good heart. A few years ago, he headlined a benefit concert that Expats Paris threw to aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina at the Intercontinental Hotel. His songs are deep and meaningful with titles like Sweet Sacrifice and Tears of Angels.
His songs are deep and meaningful with titles like Sweet Sacrifice and Tears of Angels.
He wrote Tears of Angels after watching a news story about civilians being bombed in Sarajevo, watching children crying. To him, children are angels, completely innocent and what are men doing bombing them? He was appalled that this could happen in a country so close to France. He puts his anguish into beautiful songs. You can hear Eloï and his band perform this Sunday evening, September 30, starting at 8:30 p.m., at the very happening l’Etage, located at 77 rue du Faubourg du Temple in the 10th arrondissement. For more information, visit http://www.letage.fr. You can click on this photo to watch Eloï and his band play:
Eloi & ABDM
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