Madagascar & the Indian Ocean
Madagascar · Réunion · Mauritius
An island where people who came from Southeast Asia met people from Africa: the bamboo tube-zither valiha, bouncing 6/8 salegy, accordions and guitars. Nearby Réunion keeps maloya, which sings the memory of slavery.
28 recordings, 1973–2024
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1973
Various Artists, Soul Sok Séga
Strut’s collection of Mauritian séga from 1973–79, with Michel Legris, Jean-Claude Gaspard, Claudio Veeraragoo and others — the decade when jazz, soul, funk and rock were blended into séga.
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1975
Various Artists, Oté Maloya
Strut’s survey of the electric maloya that emerged on Réunion between 1975 and 1986. Caméléon, Alain Peters and others brought Creole poetry, Western instruments and jazz and psychedelic touches to a music rooted in the songs of the enslaved.
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1987
Danyèl Waro, Gafourn
The first album by Danyèl Waro, the singer who led maloya’s revival on Réunion, issued by Piros in 1987. Known on the island through the 1980s, he reached mainland France with Batarsité in 1994.
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1988
Rakoto Frah, Flute Master of Madagascar
An album by Rakoto Frah, master of the Malagasy sodina flute, released by Britain’s GlobeStyle in 1988 as the third of its four albums of Malagasy music.
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1992
Kaya & Racinetatane, Seggae Man
The landmark album of seggae — Mauritian singer Kaya’s blend of the island’s sega and reggae — sung in Creole about life in poor neighbourhoods. His death in police custody in 1999 set off riots across the island.
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1993
D’Gary, Malagasy Guitar: Music from Madagascar
A guitarist from the south who moved traditional string techniques onto open-tuned guitar, spinning complex rhythms with his fingers.
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1993
Granmoun Lélé, Namouniman
The debut album by Réunion maloya singer Granmoun Lélé, recorded in France; its title track became a classic of the genre.
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1994
Tarika, Bibiango
An Antananarivo group drawing on rhythms and instruments from all over the island, bringing Madagascar’s diverse music to the world.
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1996
Danyèl Waro, Batarsité
A Réunion singer who kept singing maloya — songs and drums carrying the memory of slavery, long suppressed in public — in Creole.
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1997
Justin Vali, The Genius of Valiha
A master of the valiha, the national bamboo-tube zither, born into a family of instrument makers, joining tradition and new sounds.
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1997
Mahaleo, Tadidiko
A Malagasy folk group active since the 1970s, whose songs of villages and society, with guitars and voices, have been loved for generations.
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1997
Rossy, Madagascar
A singer and bandleader from Antananarivo who played rhythms from across the island with a big band, one of Madagascar’s biggest names in the 1990s.
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1998
Jaojoby, E tiako
Jaojoby, the king of salegy, the fast dance music of north-west Madagascar.
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1998
Alain Péters, Parabolèr
Gathered by friends after the death of Réunion singer and multi-instrumentalist Alain Péters: maloya, the song and drum of the descendants of enslaved people, turned inward with guitar — songs still sung on the island.
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2000
Régis Gizavo, Samy olombelo
An accordionist from Toliara in southern Madagascar who drove southern rhythms with his fingers and played with many musicians abroad.
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2000
Damily, Early Years: Madagascar Cassette Archives
Early recordings by Damily, guitarist of tsapiky — the hot dance music of Tuléar in southwest Madagascar — drawn from four cassette-only albums: racing, interlocking guitars and drums skinned with zebu hide.
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2001
Nawal, Kweli
The first full-length album by Comorian singer and multi-instrumentalist Nawal, playing the gambusi lute and singing mostly in Shikomor, mixed with French, English and Arabic.
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2001
Rajery, Fanamby
An album by Rajery, who plays the valiha zither despite losing the fingers of his right hand as an infant. Drawing on rhythms from across Madagascar, it won the RFI World Music award in 2002.
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2006
Firmin Viry, Mémwar in Pèp
Firmin Viry, who learned his songs while working in Réunion’s cane fields and made one of the first official maloya recordings in 1977, released this on Tahina Production.
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2016
Christine Salem, Larg pa lo kor
Réunion singer Christine Salem sings maloya — born of the songs of the enslaved — with a powerful voice and a feel for the blues.
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2017
Lindigo, Komsa Gayar
Réunion’s Lindigo play maloya’s drums and choral calls with festive heat.
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2017
Toko Telo, Toy Raha Toy
Debut of Toko Telo — D’Gary, Monika Njava and Régis Gizavo, all steeped in the music around Tulear in southwest Madagascar — drawing on southern styles such as tsapiky. Gizavo died the year it came out; it topped the Transglobal World Music Chart in August 2017.
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2018
Zanmari Baré, Voun
An album by Zanmari Baré of the new generation of Réunion maloya, recorded in 2017 for Buda Musique; its 11 songs keep to the elemental rhythmic core of maloya.
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2019
Maya Kamaty, Pandiyé
Maya Kamaty’s second album; the Creole title means “suspended.” Synths replace guitars while maloya instruments such as the kayamb remain, landing between pop, trip-hop and maloya.
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2020
Ann O'aro, Longoz
Réunion singer Ann O’aro’s second album, a stark trio with Teddy Doris on trombone and Bino Waro on percussion, her lyrics, partly in Réunion Creole, confronting trauma and child abuse.
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2021
Christine Salem, Mersi
Réunion singer Christine Salem’s album for Blue Fanal: island percussion entwined with Frédéric Norel’s violin, mixing maloya with blues and rock. “Tyinbo” addresses domestic violence.
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2023
Saodaj', Laz
Réunion group Saodaj’, who call their sound “maloya nomade,” return six years after Pokor Lèr. The title song, about a son leaving his mother’s home, draws on Réunion’s traditional music to depict family bonds.
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2024
Lindigo, Oyé Maloya
An album from Lindigo, the Réunion maloya collective led by Olivier Araste and built largely from his family. Nine guests join, among them three members of Cuba’s Los Muñequitos de Matanzas. Released on Helico.