To listen to audio on Rock Paper Scissors you'll need to Get the Flash Player

Sample Track 1:
"Malagasy" from Malagasy
Sample Track 2:
"Sitraka Zanahary" from Malagasy
Sample Track 3:
"Come on" from Malagasy
Buy Recording:
Malagasy
Layer 2
Music of Madagascar will get you on your feet

Click Here to go back.
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL, Music of Madagascar will get you on your feet >>

The island nation of Madagascar doesn’t make headlines much, but as the following album review reveals, getting to know the dance music produced there might be worth your time. Jaojoby is the man behind the music. In concert it’s also the name of the band, featuring the Jaojoby family of husband, wife, son and daughters. Jaojoby plays a free show at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Oats Park in front of Oats Park Art Center, 151 E. Park St. in Fallon. Details: (775) 423-1440.

Review: If sodas, herbal-infused energy drinks and double shots of espresso don’t have what it takes to wake you up and get your heart racing, maybe salegy will do the trick. “What’s this?” you ask. It’s driving dance music from Madagascar, one of the most exuberant sounds you’ll find anywhere. The style was born in the ’60s and ’70s when musicians transferred centuries-old forms of Malagasy music to modern instruments and plugged them in. Eusèbe Jaojoby was one of the first to play salegy music, and today he rules the genre. His new album, “Malagasy” (World Village, 3 stars out of 4), demonstrates why he’s one of the most popular showmen in Madagascar and nearby Indian Ocean islands.

The kick in these songs comes from the relentless 6/8 and 12/8 rhythms, around which electric guitars climb and cascade in spirited harmonies. Their sound resembles Congolese soukous. The arrangements and backbeat are tightly managed, suggesting a lot of discipline goes into this music. But the weaving guitars and the bursts of bass and percussion suggest a free-for-all is under way. It’s something like the chaos and control of electrons careening around an atom’s nucleus. The band locks into grooves almost hypnotically and then snaps out of them, shifting direction, moving on to new combinations and leaving your head spinning.

Guitars dominate these tracks, but in places you’ll also hear saxophones, brass and keyboards that mimic accordions. “Tany Tsaratsara” starts and ends with rock ’n’ roll power chords. Jaojoby stands at the forefront of all this and hollers in a style he says is influenced by James Brown. His backing singers are equally enthusiastic.

Nowhere does the pulse of this music let up. There are calmer moments, but that’s speaking relatively. The sweet “K’aza Miahiahy” is about as slow as it gets, and that can be likened to a fast waltz. These songs are made to get you moving, and it works even on disc. It’s hard to imagine anyone sitting still during a live show.

 08/12/04 >> go there
Click Here to go back.