Chronic

Damily, tsapiky healer

The Damily group © Jérôme Boccon-Gibod

24/10/2018

As a faithful soldier of this electrified music characteristic of the south of Madagascar, tsapiky, the guitarist Damily arrives on his new album Valimbilo to preserve the original flavors and emphasize the societal role.

If the field of world music is vast, if not infinite, some styles are distinguished by their strong identity: the tsapiky of southern Madagascar is like nothing else. In recent years, the Big Island has been remarkably musical for these screaming rockers, but the current that Damily, more typical, rooted in local life, is not left with these guitars saturated and this sound distorted 360 degree broadcast by horn speakers whose effects are felt several hundred meters around ...

When he moved to France about ten years ago, the Malagasy musician had the idea to search on the Internet for these old Bouyer amps he used to use in his country to sound his music. benefits of tsapiky groups. What ensure a form of authenticity, without the need to go 10,000 kilometers.

For Valimbilo, he remained in the French countryside, however, joining the services of Brice Nauroy for mixing. The Reunionese, a member of Sami Pageaux-Waro's Lo Griyo project, had already taken part in the previous Very Aomby album in 2015 and is well aware of the specificities of this unobtrusive music to be reproduced in the studio as it is designed to be played live.

The very title of the album refers to this function of healer entrusted to the musician in the traditional Malagasy world and that Damily often exercised in the 90s, with his guitar - for others, like his compatriot Régis Gizavo, gone last year, it was with the accordion. Although not recorded in situ, the eight tracks of the album also plunge into the daily life of southern Madagascar, its concerns, its inevitable zebu stories ...

For the first time, the guitarist also escapes at times to another repertoire. "You have to vary, without leaving the Malagasy side, taking the traditional side," he explains. On Kalitaky , and Aomby Mazava Ioha , the guitar playing accompanied by the katsa (rattle) recalls what another guitarist from the same region, D'Gary, popularized from the 90's.

With Tsi Miroro , another musical dimension appears, common to this island larger than France, both in singing and rhythmically, and that artists like Jaojoby have made known on the international scene. What round off the angles to better highlight the tsapiky and retain its attractiveness, even outside the Indian Ocean.

Damily Valimbilo (Bongo Joe) 2018
Damily's Facebook page
Bandcamp page of Damily

By: Bertrand Lavaine

Damily

Madagascar - World Music - album

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