Aia Haja?

Description

This Franco-Malagasy quintet explores the new sounds and frenetic rhythms of tsapiky, a young trance music from the dust-balls of southwestern Madagascar. A continuation of the collaboration between Electric Vocuhila and the musicians of guitarist Behaja's group, this formation creates an unprecedented combination with the saxophone, merging tsapiky, (free) jazz, and rock. Hailing from Sakaraha in southwestern Madagascar, Behaja is one of the most influential musicians in contemporary tsapiky. Deeply rooted in the tradition of Mandriampototsy tsapiky (dust-ball), he is recognized for his mastery of new guitar techniques, rhythms, and structures that have emerged in the last 10 to 15 years in the Tuléar region. Passionate about Malagasy tsapiky for about ten years, saxophonist Maxime Bobo (Electric Vocuhila, Mitsaitsaiky) regularly travels to Madagascar to play with various modern tsapiky groups (Behaja, Rebona, Mahapoteke) and to conduct research and collection work to understand and document the current evolution of this music (see the compilation Tsapiky! Modern Music from Southwest Madagascar, released in April 2025 on the Sublime Frequencies label). Tsapiky is a young musical style that emerged in the Tuléar region of southwestern Madagascar in the late 1970s from the meeting of village traditions and modern African music, with the electric guitar becoming the dominant instrument.