Hazolahy | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Madagascar |
| Genres | Mangaliba |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Members | Thominot Hazolahy |
Hazolahy is a musical group from Madagascar that performs the traditional genre of mangaliba from the island's southeastern coast. The group's music occasionally integrates the vocal style of beko from the neighboring Antandroy region at the southern end of Madagascar. The founder of the group, Thominot Hazolahy, grew up among musicians and while still a student formed his first group, which performed a fusion of blues, mangaliba and reggae. His second group, Hazolahy, stays truer to the mangaliba genre. [1] Hazolahy's music combines vocals, acoustic guitars and percussion, including large traditional drum of ritual significance which is itself called hazolahy. [2] Founding member R. Benny left the group in 2004 to launch the band Rabaza. [3]
| Authority control databases: Artists |
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Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Like mainstream country music, it largely developed out of old-time string music, though in contrast, bluegrass is traditionally played exclusively on acoustic instruments and also has roots in traditional English, Scottish, and Irish ballads and dance tunes as well as in blues and jazz. Bluegrass was further developed by musicians who played with Monroe, including 5-string banjo player Earl Scruggs and guitarist Lester Flatt. Monroe characterized the genre as, "Scottish bagpipes and ole-time fiddlin'. It's a part of Methodist, Holiness and Baptist traditions. It's blues and jazz, and it has a high lonesome sound."
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Paul Bert Rahasimanana, better known as Rossy, is a Malagasy singer and songwriter, generally considered the most popular Malagasy artist of the 1990s. Beginning his musical career as an accordionist and singer within a traditional hira gasy musical troupe, Rossy innovated a fusion of hira gasy instrumentation and vocal style with contemporary rock, funk and folk sounds to create a uniquely Malagasy genre of contemporary popular music. Rossy actively promoted former president Didier Ratsiraka through concert performances throughout his presidency and served within the Ministry of Culture to promote artists' rights and copyright law. When Ratsiraka fell into disfavor following the contentious 2001 Malagasy presidential elections, Rossy went into self-imposed exile in France. He returned to the island to give concerts beginning in 2008 and enjoyed enormous popularity despite six years of absence, setting an unbroken record of 35,000 tickets sold for a performance given that year. His compositions and style are frequently associated with the Ratsiraka socialist period and commonly evoke a sense of nostalgia among Malagasy fans.
Erick Manana is an acoustic guitarist, singer and songwriter from Madagascar. He often performs in a duo or as a solo artist, singing in accompaniment to his acoustic guitar in the ba-gasy genre that gained prominence in the central highlands of Madagascar in the 1930s. He began to learn to play guitar and sing in the ba-gasy style from his grandfather at the age of five. In 1979 he left Madagascar to settle in France and currently lives in Bordeaux. His professional career as a musician began in 1982 as a member of Lolo sy ny Tariny. He recorded his first solo album in 1996. He was a member of the group Feo-Gasy alongside the celebrated sodina player Rakoto Frah, and together the group toured Europe several times, promoting the traditional music of the central highlands of Madagascar. He has worked on a variety of collaborative projects, recording singles and performing with established artists such as Regis Gizavo and Solorazaf, and young breakthrough stars like Aina Quash. Most recently, Manana formed a group with valiha player Justin Vali and other prominent Malagasy artists in the Malagasy All Stars.
Wawa is a performer and composer of salegy, a genre of music from the northern coastal region of Madagascar. He is among the most popular contemporary salegy artists and has recorded songs in collaboration with numerous other Malagasy artists. In 2011 he released an album of traditional salegy, featuring kabosy, marovany and traditional percussion accompaniment. Wawa enjoys strong popularity among Malagasy audiences both domestically and within the diaspora, and regularly tours at home and abroad. In 2010 the band completed extensive tours to sold-out audiences in France and Madagascar. A music reviewer for Midi Madagasikara described Wawa in 2013 as the "perfect entertainer, who never ceases to perform at the highest levels."
Andrianary Ratianarivo (1895-1949) was a pianist and composer of kalon'ny fahiny,vakondrazana and ba-gasy music from the central highlands of Madagascar. He was a major composer for the Malagasy theatrical genre that reached its peak between 1920 and 1940 at the Theatre d'Isotry in Antananarivo. Ratianarivo was born in the year of Madagascar's colonization to a musician of the royal palace. His pieces were typically written for piano, often with solo, duet or choral vocal accompaniment sung in the Malagasy language. He was classically trained as a conductor and composed over 500 songs and scores for theater, including an opera penned by Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo entitled Imaitsoanala (1935), which remains the only Malagasy opera. In 1929 he formed "Troupe Jeanette" in Antananarivo with musicians Rakaramanga and Jeanette; this group, with new artists, continues to perform at the Theatre d'Isotry to the present. His songs form part of the canon of classical Malagasy piano music. A street in downtown Antananarivo is named after him.
Olombelona Ricky, also known as Ricky, is a Malagasy vocalist and roots musician based in Antananarivo, Madagascar. Launching his musical career in 1991, Ricky recorded his first album in 1998, sparking the phenomenon of "Rickymania". His socio-political messages and uncompromising approach to his career have earned him a strong following among urban youth within Madagascar. He is esteemed as a musical and cultural ethnologist by many of his fellow Malagasy musicians for his effort to capture and reinvent the traditional musical heritage of the island and that of the near-mythical Vazimba people in particular, believed by many Malagasy to be the island's earliest inhabitants. Despite an uncompromising approach to his career which slowed his international exposure, Ricky has performed at numerous international music festivals over the course of his career and regularly tours at home and abroad.
Toto Mwandjani is a Malagasy guitarist and singer who performs the traditional musical genres of tsapiky and salegy infused with Ndombolo music of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mwandjani, who was born in Antsohihy in north-west Madagascar, began playing guitar at age eight and formed a band called Les Jeunes Cobras. In 1994 he joined legendary group Feon'ala before becoming a high-demand musician at Studio Mars, the premier professional recording studio on the island. He formed the group Soley, gaining further acclaim for his unique adaptations of traditional musical styles. In the late 1990s after the dissolution of the band, Mwandjani was regularly invited to record and perform with the superstars of salegy, including Jaojoby, Mily Clément and Ninie Doniah. His single Malemilemy elevated him to national stardom. He has recorded two albums and toured extensively in Madagascar and Europe. Mwandjani has twice given concerts to represent Malagasy culture at the annual Days of Madagascar event held at UNESCO in Paris.
Mika sy Davis is a folk-fusion group from Madagascar composed of two male singer-songwriters named Mika and Franklin Davis. They perform a contemporary form of the traditional basesa genre of the island's east coast, blended with rock, soul and reggae. The band has been credited with revitalizing and nationally popularizing the basesa genre.
Samoëla Rasolofoniaina, better known as Samoëla, is a Malagasy vocalist and composer of contemporary folk fusion and roots music that draws upon musical traditions throughout the island of Madagascar. He typically sings and plays acoustic guitar, accompanied by an ensemble including bass guitar, Western and traditional percussion, and backup singers. He is distinguished by his use of hainteny traditional poetry and its metaphorical language, as well as youth slang and culturally subversive direct language to critique and address sensitive social and political topics.
Mahaleo is a folk-pop band from Madagascar that is widely viewed as the most popular Malagasy group of all time. The band was founded by Dama with six of his classmates after first performing together during the rotaka student protests at their high school on 13 May 1972. Mahaleo's lyrics draw upon the indirect language of traditional hainteny and ohabolana to expose contemporary political and social issues and invite listeners to identify their own solutions.
Tearano is a musical group from the southwestern region of Madagascar. They perform a contemporary form of the traditional beko genre, fusing southern vocal harmonies and tsapiky rhythms with modern instrumentation heavily featuring synthesizers and electric guitars. The band's innovative instrumentation modernized the tsapiky sound and rendered it more radio friendly and accessible to listeners in other regions of Madagascar. The band is considered an ambassador of the musical traditions of the south, and is credited with popularizing the tsapiky genre outside of the southern region of Toliara where it originated.
Rabaza is a musical group from Taolagnaro on the southern coast of Madagascar. They perform a blend of traditional musical styles, including kilalaka, tsapiky and mangaliba. The group was founded by R. Christo Benny, who had previously founded and co-led the group Hazolahy from 1998 to 2004. The band seeks to revitalize the musical traditions of the southern region of Anosy and primarily uses local instruments like the hazolahy drum, belamaky, pitiky langay, kasaky and langoro. Both albums enjoyed strong success across the island. The band has toured throughout Madagascar and the Indian Ocean islands and has participated in numerous regional music festivals. A song by Rabaza entitled Mifaneva was used in a film "Madagascar: Carnet de Voyage", which was nominated for an Oscar in the category "Best Animated Short Film" in 2011.
Terakaly is a musical group from the southwestern region of Madagascar. They perform a contemporary blend of traditional music from the region, including beko and tsapiky. The band enjoyed nationwide success with its first single, "Avia Mouna", which was released in 1999. After a period of intense popularity, the band lost ground to other new artists and only regained nationwide exposure with the release of a new album in 2009. The band was a launching point for several other successful artists, most notably including Tsiliva, who ranks among the most popular contemporary performers of the kilalaka genre.
Tsiliva, born Christophe Tsiliva Diddiot, is a Malagasy musician who performs kilalaka, a traditional genre of music from the southwestern interior of Madagascar. The son of a pastor, he was born on 25 July 1982 and raised in the western coastal town of Ambovombe Androy, near Morondava. As a child he enjoyed playing music and composing songs. Upon reaching secondary school, he formed or joined many local groups, including Cabalero Music, Tsirangoty, Diddiot Pro, Calypso, Mentalis Music and Fouad music, with whom he both performed and composed music. After graduating high school and earning his baccalaureat in management and communications, he played bass for the group Dadah de Fort Dauphin, later joining the groups Terana and Terakaly as a percussionist. With Terakaly, he performed for the first time at a major music festival, the Donia music festival at Nosy Be.
Salala is an a capella vocal trio from the south of Madagascar. They perform a contemporary form of the traditional beko genre, which originates from the island's southern interior. In contrast to the traditional beko, a spiritual chant sung at funerals to honor the life of the deceased, Salala adapted the harmonies and style of the genre while shedding the religious purpose of the music by focusing the subject of their songs on matters of daily life. The group was founded by one of the singers, M'Bassa, in 1983, with singer Senge and a friend. All three performers belong to the southern Antandroy ethnic group and originate from a small village near Taolagnaro. Over the next ten years, the group gained in popularity in Madagascar, eventually winning the "Gasitsara Media Prize" for Best Band of the Year. Their first major domestic hit was "Salakao Raho Ene". The group went on to perform the Africolor music festival in 1994, where they were well received. In 1995 they recorded their first album, Salala, and were selected to represent the Indian Ocean states at the "Découvertes du Printemps de Bourges" tour, performing at 25 venues across France and Germany with Oumou Sangaré. After this success, the group's bass vocalist, Senge, launched a solo career, eventually teaming up with two other singers to lead his own trio, while still performing and recording with Salala. The band toured Africa in 1996, visiting the Seychelles, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Malawi, Zambia, Namibia and South Africa. They performed at the third Jeux de la Francophonie in Madagascar in 1997 and toured Singapore in 1998. In 1999, Salala toured Reunion island with Granmoun Lélé.
