Singer Eusebe Jaojoby says his home in northeast Madagascar is the richest part of the island country located in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa. He enjoys talking about the lemurs and monkeys that cavort among the lush vanilla plants and banana trees. Jaojoby connects the pastoral to the infectious upbeat dance pop, called salegy, which is unique to his island.

 "After hard labor in the fields, we take our instruments to make feasts," Jaojoby says over the phone from the Canadian leg of his tour that will bring him to Chicago on Wednesday and Thursday. "In the middle of our country, where our capital is, it's influenced by Western rhythm.

 In those towns, they like to appear developed and play music from abroad, but in the coasts, they are far away from the radio and remained themselves."

 "I was born in the country, in the forest," Jaojoby continues. "But I grew up in towns, so I think that I am a mixture."Jaojoby is in North America to promote that musical combination, which can be heard on his new disc, "Malagasy" (World Village).The defining feature of salegy, Jaojoby says, is rhythm a little like the beat that can be heard in a lot of the blues. Salegy also uses the open tuning of electric guitars to reproduce the sound of the valiha, which is an important instrument for the Malagasy people of Madagascar.Ethnomusicologist Mireille Rakotomalala describes the valiha as a tube zither that is hundreds of years old and, like the Malagasy, has its roots in Indonesia. Despite this history, Jaojoby says salegy needs the modern decibels of electricity to get more people dancing.

 Influences from the outside world had a particular impact on Madagascar as Jaojoby was growing up. He was 5 years old when the country became independent in 1960, and at first he was unaware of the new instruments and records that were being imported. As a child, he sang church and rural folk songs that were in the blueslike beat.

 When he moved to the port city of Antsiranana to pursue his education as a teenager, he also started singing in nightclubs.

 "You had to perform for your customers, and in the 1970s soul music was in fashion," Jaojoby says. "Our customers were usually French soldiers and rich Malagasy people. In our set list, we had tango, the jerk and James Brown's funk. I began to learn English at that time, and even though I may make mistakes in English songs, we didn't care. As long as you can say, `Sex Machine'!"

 Just as Jaojoby and his colleagues began introducing the Malagasy language and music into their sets, he took a job as a journalist at Madagascar's radio network to support his family. He was forced to curtail his musical calling as he rose through the ranks of his country's news media. The job also required him to travel, and Jaojoby was surprised to hear people play folk music with a salegylike 6/8 rhythm in Azerbeijan.

 Still, Jaojoby's heart was in making music of his own, and he recorded every so often. For a while, he was primarily celebrated as a singer in the northern part of the country. In 1988 he had a national hit in Madagascar with "Samy Mandeha Samy Mitady" (Everyone looks after themselves) and was then able to become a full-time musician. During the next decade, he joined other Malagasy musicians, including Tarika, in making inroads into the international market.

 Jaojoby is also able to balance touring with his domestic life because his family makes up most of his band (which also takes his name). His son, Elie Lucas Jaojoby, unleashes most of the guitar solos on "Malagasy."

 "I don't get lovesick for my wife if I've got her with me," Jaojoby says. Then he adds with a huge laugh, "Sometimes it causes problems with a crazy male or female fan, but that doesn't happen that often."

 Occasionally, Jaojoby brings the issues he investigated as a journalist into his lyrics. "Mahore" connects the people of Madagascar with their distant relatives from throughout the islands of the Indian Ocean. A song from a few years ago, "Nintsika Jiapy Iz'Ty" (It Is Our Affair), is a plea against deforestation.

 "The southern and western parts of Madagascar are going to be deserts," Jaojoby says. "I told the Malagasy people to take the profits that come in during the rainy season and use them to plant more trees."

 Madagascar's economic crisis is also a concern for Jaojoby, but he is not worried enough about this issue to commit it to his lyrics.

 "Of course we are more poor than you, but I can't say that we are sad. When you adopt friendship and when you live with love, you get more happiness. And that's what humanity needs."

 While Jaojoby had played just a few East Coast dates at the time of this interview, one of his observations could serve American national pride better than any bumper sticker.

 "At our first performance in Philadelphia I saw that the Americans are dancing like us. In America, people get into the salegy beat more easily than the Europeans."

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 Jaojoby will perform at Hot House, 31 E. Balbo, on Wednesday at 8:30. Admission: $15. Phone: 312-362-9707. The band will also play at SummerDance, 601 S. Michigan, on Thursday at 7:30. Admission: Free. Phone: 312-742-4007.