Madagascar, which lies just off the coast of East Africa, is in the furthest western part of the Indian Ocean. It's important to understand how contemporary Malagasy (the name for all things from Madagascar, including the language) music was shaped by the cultural flows from the Indian Ocean and from continental Africa.
It turns out that Madagascar was actually first settled by folks from the Malay Archipelago, who followed the monsoon from Southeast Asia, across the Indian Ocean (via stops in some of the islands like the Maldives) from 50 to 500AD. They brought with them an Austronesian language that probably originated on the island of Borneo.
I witnessed the connections between Madagascar and Borneo during a string workshop at the Rainforest World Music Festival in Kuching, Sarawak (on Borneo). Malagasy musician Rajery, a master of the bamboo tube zither, the valiha (the national instrument of Madagascar), found himself jamming with a local Sarawak-based villager who was playing a similar instrument. They were able to play together just a few minutes after meeting; it was a moving moment that was echoed by the leader of the band Tarika, one of the most successful bands from Madagascar, who told me of her trip to Sulawesi to meet her cousins and ancestors.
Madacascar! Photo: John Clewley
Further new arrivals, Bantus, came from continental Africa and around 1,000AD the Malagasy and Bantus mixed with Indians and people from Arabic countries. The Malagasy language became the de facto lingua franca of the island and Madagascar developed into the unique culture it is today.
All this information and a lot more is included in the excellent liner notes of a recent compilation of Malagasy popular music, Alefa Madagascar! Salegy, Soukous & Soul From The Red Island (Strut Records, UK) by Afropop International senior producer Banning Eyre; the compilation was released in September 2019. In recent columns, music from different parts of the Indian Ocean have surfed onto the World Beat desk -- so far, we've considered releases from Reunion, Maldives and Djibouti.
The new Malagasy compilations offers a fascinating snapshot of what music was happening in Madagascar during the 70s and early 80s -- the golden period for African popular music (and many other countries, including Thailand).
The subtitle of the album gives a hint of what to expect, noting three popular styles: salegy (from the northwestern coastal region), soukous (from the Congo via Kenya and Tanzania) and soul (although upon listening to the album, funk would be more accurate as it pops up all over the place, as it did in Africa during the 70s).
Hammond organs, intertwining guitars, heavy percussion (from traditional music) and vocal harmonies feature across the board. The opening track, Andosy Mora, for instance, kicks off with a Hammond organ intro that bubbles into a dance groove. On B.B. Gasy the organ leads into a South African mbaqanga (Township Jive) rhythm, while on Roger Georges' Mama the sound is more gospel oriented. Best of all the organ-influenced numbers though is Los Matadores' Andeha Hanarato, a raucous dance number that is a standout on the album. Funk, which may well have reached the shores of the island via Afrobeat, features on some excellent tracks, particularly Ody Ody by the modestly named Saka Dit the King and Ngoma Hoe by Papa James. Mauritian sega music, which always makes me think of Caribbean zouk, pops up on Kaiamba Orchestra's Takatoko and Jazz Sega by Jeannot Rabeson.
Also of interest is the protest singing of Mahaleo, whose acoustic-based songs told of foreign economic domination and was performed at protests led by students and farmers. You can sample their music on the track Izahay Mpamita; the band remains active on the island.
There are not many compilations of popular Malagasy music, so this excellent album plugs a gap for those music fans interested in the music of the Indian Ocean, and there is plenty of great music for fans of African popular music, too. And the album just scratches the surface of Malagasy music -- there's plenty more to come. Available in vinyl, CD or as a download. More information from strut-records.com.
John Clewley can be contacted at clewley.john@gmail.com.
