Jaojoby isn’t simply a terrific salegy group; for more than two decades it’s been one of the world’s best dance bands, period.  Salegy, in case you were wondering, is to Madagascar what reggae is to Jamaica or soca to Trinidad: an Africa-informed dance sound ubiquitous on its island of origin.  Salegy vocalists declaim more than sing, and Jaojoby was once of the first acts to electrify the style, which was originally played on acoustic instruments in a snappy 6/8 “tikita-tikita” rhythm.  A decelerated, more romantic variation is known as malesa.

The band’s leader, Eusebe Jaojoby, shouts about love, money, dignity, and inter-island friendship over a fierce ten-piece band on Malagasy, which was recorded live on Madagascar’s Indian Ocean neighbor, Reunion.  The group’s secret weapon turns out to be Jaojoby’s son, Elie Lucas Jaojoby, whose screaming guitar solos on “Indosiko Anao” and Tany Tsaratsara” echo both Eddie Van Halen and the longtime Madagascan-music advocate Henry Kaiser.  The guitars, drums and faux-accordion keyboard frequently lock up tight in Congolese or Mozambican style.  The Reunion horn section adds a layer of loping funk to “K’aza Miahiahy,” and what the album–and style–lack in diversity they more than compensate for in rhythmic energy and exhortative zeal.
-Richard Gehr