«Marabi is the independant label created in 2002 by Christian Mousset, director of the Festival Musiques Métisses d'Angoulême in France.The festival, place of exchange and discovery, is widely opened to urban popular musics from the African Continent, Indian Ocean, the Caribbeans, America. Marabi is mainly a discographic extension of this event. On the same artistic line, the label puts upcoming

«One of the most exciting bands from Madagascar, Njava has been attracting international attention since their crowd-rousing set at the WOMAD Festival in 1995. Njava is mostly comprised of siblings — two sisters and three brothers — from the south Madagascar's Antemoto tribe. Njava brings a modern sensibility to the traditional music of their homeland. Initially an electric band, Njava began

This long-out-of-print Italian compilation is a great introduction to Malagasy music, featuring as it does some of the most interesting artists of this isolated and fascinating country’s contemporary scene, like Tarika, D’Gary, Solo Razaf, Madame Masy and many others. A real must for all lovers of inventive neotraditional music. For more info about (and more music of) some of the artists

«With an instrumental virtuosity and unique vocal style, D'Gary has successfully brought the musical traditions of Madagascar to the international stage. His 1991 album, Malagasy Guitar/Music from Madagascar, was produced by American guitarists Henry Kaiser and David Lindley, and served as an introduction to his musical mastery. In a review of the album, Puncture, wrote “(This) is an album for

«While the African music scene is currently dominated largely by men, there has never been any stigma to speak of against women performing (with the possible exception of some of the North African Islamic nations). The catch is that women tended historically to spend less time playing instruments in favor of other portions of the rituals and work, and stayed primarily within the vocal field as a