Vaovy

Slim and taciturn, a sly upward turn to his lips, a far-seeing look, Jean Gabin Fanovona gives off a feeling of secrecy, and one suspects that the race of musician to which he belongs is similar to that of magicians. However, in Madagascar, it is as the modernizer of Antandroy music that Vaovy's leader is known — and often pillaged, for over the last 20 years, everyone there has been shamelessly plagiarizing his compositions and his ideas.

Following Angira, Vaovy's second album, Vamba, is Jean Gabin Fanovona's most accomplished project. Régis Gizavo's accordion, Solo Razaf's guitar and Vincent Bucher's harmonica mingle with the lokanza (traditional Antandroy violin), the percussion, and the sumptuous vocal polyphonies of this unique and deeply original ensemble from the Big Red Island. —Courtesy Calabash Music