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Ange (band)

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Adapted from the English Wikipedia article Ange (band), available under CC BY-SA 4.0Updated 29 November 2025
Ange
Company typeMusic group
IndustryMusic
FoundedSeptember 1969; 57 years ago (1969-09)
FounderFrancis Décamps, Christian Décamps
Headquarters
France
Area served
France, United Kingdom
ProductsProgressive rock music albums and live performances
Websitewww.unpieddanslamarge.com

Ange (, ) is a French progressive rock ensemble established in September 1969 by siblings Francis (keyboards) and Christian Décamps (vocals, accordion, acoustic guitar, keyboards). Their sound is deeply inspired by medieval literature and fantasy motifs.

History

Drawing initial inspiration from Procol Harum and King Crimson, Ange crafted a poetic and theatrical musical approach. Their first significant success in France was a rendition of Jacques Brel's Ces gens-là featured on their sophomore album, Le Cimetière des Arlequins. The band’s debut live performance took place on January 30, 1970, in Belfort. From 1973 to 1976, they delivered 110 concerts across England, including an opening slot for Genesis at the 1973 Reading Festival before an audience estimated at 30,000.

Despite producing an English-language version of their fifth album, Par les fils de Mandrin (titled By the sons of Mandrin), linguistic challenges hindered their success in the UK market. This version experienced poor sales and has since become a rare collector’s CD. After three albums, the band’s creative momentum waned, and Par les fils de Mandrin failed to establish a foothold in Britain.

Subsequently, Ange released Guet-apens, which prominently featured mellotron sounds, before transitioning toward a more rock-driven style while intermittently revisiting their progressive origins, as demonstrated on the 1992 release Les larmes du Dalaï-Lama. With support from French radio station RTL, their extensive touring continued until late 1977, attracting crowds ranging from 5,000 to 6,000 attendees per show. The classic lineup consisted of Jean-Michel Brézovar (guitar, flute), Gérard Jelsch (drums), and Daniel Haas (bass, acoustic guitar). Ange wrapped up their initial era with a farewell tour in 1995.

Christian Décamps pursued solo ventures under the name "Christian Décamps et Fils" before reclaiming the Ange identity in 1999. Since that revival, the group has issued numerous albums beginning with La voiture à eau (1999), appeared at NEARfest in 2006, and continues to perform actively as of 2025.

Both Francis Décamps and Jean-Michel Brézovar have also embarked on individual solo projects.

Keyboards

The distinctive keyboard tones of the band during the 1970s—often mistaken for mellotron sounds—were actually generated using a Viscount organ enhanced with modified Hammond reverb effects. An authentic mellotron was employed solely on the 1976 album Par Les Fils De Mandrin.

Studio discography

Era of Christian and Francis Décamps

Period of Christian and Tristan Décamps

  • La Voiture À Eau (1999)
  • Rêves Parties (2000, live, 2CD)
  • Culinaire Lingus (2001)
  • ? (2005)
  • Le Tour De La Question (2007)
  • Zénith An II (2007, live, 2CD)
  • 'Souffleurs De Vers' (2007)
  • 'Souffleurs De Vers Tour'(Live CD+DVD, 2009)
  • 'Le Bois Travaille Même Le Dimanche'(2010)
  • 'Escale À Ch'tiland'(2CD+DVD, 2011, live)
  • 'Moyen-Âge'(2012)
  • 'Emile Jacotey Résurrection'(2014)
  • 'Emile Jacotey Résurrection Live'(CD+DVD, 2015)
  • 'La Bataille du sucre'(2015, ltd ed w/ 4 songs)
  • 'Heureux'(2018)

Christian Décamps & Fils

  • Le Mal D'Adam(1979)
  • Juste Une Ligne Bleue(1990)
  • Nu(1994)
  • V'soul Vesoul V'soul(1995)
  • 3ème Étoile À Gauche(1997)
  • Poèmes De La Noiseraie(1998)
  • Murmures(2003)
  • Psychédélice(2008)

Since 1997, the Ange Fanclub "Un pied dans la marge" has released more than twenty CDs or DVDs, mostly consisting of live recordings.

Current Line-up

  • Christian Décamps – Lead vocals, Keyboards (active since 1970)
  • Tristan Décamps – Keyboards, Backing Vocals (active since 1997)
  • Hassan Hajdi – Guitars (active since 1997)
  • Thierry Sidhoum – Bass Guitar (active since 1997)
  • Benoît Cazzulini – Drums (active since 2003)

Previous Members

  • Francis Décamps – Keyboards, Vocals (1970–1995)
  • Jean-Michel Brézovar – Guitars (1970–1977, 1988–1989, 1991–1995)
  • Jean-Claude Rio – Rhythm Guitar (1970)
  • Patrick Kachanian – Bass Guitar, Flute (1970)
  • Daniel Haas – Bass Guitar (1971–1977, 1988–1995)
  • Gérard Jelsch – Drums and Percussion Instruments (1970–1974, 1994–1995)
  • Guénolé Biger – Drums and Percussion (1975)
  • Jean-Pierre Guichard – Drums (1976–1981, 1988–1992)
  • Claude Demet – Guitars (1978, 1990)
  • Gérald Renard – Bass Guitar (1978–1979)
  • Mauro Serri – Guitars (1979)
  • Jean-Marie Schreiner – Drums (1979, 1990)
  • J. Frieden – Keyboards (1979)
  • J. Migaud – Keyboards (1979)
  • Robert Defer – Guitars (1980–1981, 1990)
  • Didier Viseux – Bass Guitar (1980–1981)
  • Frederick Chojnacki – Bass Guitar (1980–1981)
  • Serge Cuénot – Guitars (1982–1987, 1990)
  • Laurent Sigrist – Bass Guitar (1982–1987)
  • Gabriel Troyan – Bass Guitar on Tout feu tout flamme album (1987)
  • Jean-Claude Potin – Drums (1982–1986)
  • Francis Meyer – Drums (1987)
  • Martine Kesselburg – Choir on Tout feu tout flamme, Vocals in 1990
  • Eva Santi – Choir on Tout feu tout flamme album
  • Bruno Nion – Vocals on Sève qui peut album
  • Fabrice Bony – Drums (1993)
  • Jean-Pascal Boffo – Guitars (1995)
  • Hervé Rouyer – Drums and Percussion Instruments (1995, 1997–2002)
  • Caroline Crozat – Vocals and Choir Contributions (2001–2010)

Timeline

<timeline> ImageSize = width:1300 height:800 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:120 top:0 right:08 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1970 till:07/01/2018 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1972 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1970

Colors = 

 id:Vocals      value:red          legend:Vocals
 id:Keyboards   value:purple       legend:Keyboards
 id:Guitars     value:green        legend:Guitars
 id:Bass        value:blue         legend:Bass
 id:Drums       value:orange       legend:Drums
 id:Flute       value:gray(0.5)    legend:Flute
 id:RhythmGuitar value:brightgreen legend:Rhythmic_Guitar
 id:Choir       value:pink         legend:Choir
 id:StudioAlbums value:black       legend:Studio_Albums

LineData = 

 at:07/06/1972 color:black layer:back
 at:15/03/1973 color:black layer:back
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 at:03/12/1975 color:black layer:back
 at:23/03/1976 color:black layer:back
 at:29/03/1977 color:black layer:back
 at:05/10/1978 color:black layer:back
 at:22/09/1980 color:black layer:back
 at:18/06/1981 color:black layer:back
 at:27/03/1982 color:black layer:back
 at:25/04/1983 color:black layer:back
 at:25/04/1984 color:black layer:back
 at:25/04/1986 color:black layer:back
 at:25/04/1987 color:black layer:back
 at:25/04/1989 color:black layer:back
 at:25/04/1992 color:black layer:back
 at:25/04/1999 color:black layer:back
 at:23/05/2001 color:black layer:back
 at:16/05/2005 color:black layer:back
 at:04/03/2007 color:black layer:back
 at:01/01/2010 color:black layer:back
 at:21/05/2012 color:black layer:back

BarData = 

 bar:cdecamps text:"C. Décamps"
 bar:fdecamps text:"F. Décamps"
 bar:tdecamps text:"T. Décamps"
 bar:jfrieden text:"J. Frieden"
 bar:jmigaud text:"J. Migaud"
 bar:jmbrezovar text:"J.-M. Brézovar"
 bar:cdemet text:"Claude Demet"
 bar:mserri text:"Mauro Serri"
 bar:rdefer text:"Robert Defer"
 bar=scuenot text:"Serge Cuénot"
 bar=jpboffo text:"J.-P. Boffo"
 bar=hhajdi text:"Hassan Hajdi"
 bar=pkachanian text:"P. Kachanian"
 bar=dhaas text:"Daniel Haas"
 bar=grenard text:"Gérald Renard"
 bar=dviseux text:"Didier Viseux"
 bar=fchojnacki text:"F. Chojnacki"
 bar=lsigrist text:"Laurent Sigrist"
 bar=tsidhoum text:"Thierry Sidhoum"
 bar=jcrio text:"Jean-Claude Rio"
 bar=gjelsh text:"Gérard Jelsch"
 bar=gbiger text:"Guénolé Biger"
 bar=jpguichard text:"J.-P. Guichard"
 bar=jmschreiner text:"J.-M. Schreiner"
 bar=jcpotin text:"J.-C. Potin"
 bar=fmeyer text:"Francis Meyer"
 bar=fbony text:"Fabrice Bony"
 bar=hrouyer text:"Hervé Rouyer"
 bar=bcazzulini text:"Benoît Cazzulini"
 bar=ccrozat text:"Caroline Crozat"

PlotData= 

width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:start shift:(10,-4)
bar:cdecamps from:start till:end color:red
bar:jfrieden from:start till:start+1y color:purple 
bar:jmigaud from:start till:start+1y color:purple 
bar:jmbrezovar from:start till:start+8y color green 
bar:jmbrezovar from:start+18y till:start+20y color green 
bar:jmbrezovar from:start+21y till:start+26y color green 
bar=hhajdi from:start+27y till:end color green 
bar=pkachanian from:start till:start+1y color blue 
bar=tsidhoum from:start+27y till:end color blue 
bar=gjelsh from:start till:start+4y color orange 
bar=gjelsh from:start+24y till:start+25y color orange 
bar=bcazzulini from:start+33y till:end color orange

width :3 align:left anchor :start shift:(10,-4) 
bar :cdecamps from :start till :end color :purple

</timeline>

Bibliography

  • Ange, le livre des légendes with the subtitle L'anthologie définitive sur le groupe mythique du rock français, authored by Thierry Busson, Xavier Chatagnon, and Bruno Versmisse, spanning 292 pages, published by Éclipse éditions in 1995. ISBN 2-911494-00-8

See also

External links

Related profiles

AAtoll (band)CCentury (French band)
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