Listen Now!

Sean Whittaker is poised to be the next Ry Cooder. Not that his guitar skills match up (in fact, he doesn't play an instrument), but his profound love for the music of Madagascar rivals the passion Cooder poured into Buena Vista's infamous club. Whittaker's half-decade living abroad inspired a return visit in 2003, where he witnessed, dumbfounded, virtuoso woodwind player Seta Ramaroson playing for an aerobics class. Traditional music, he saw, was not receiving its due.

Joining the same plight as Tarika vocalist Hanitra Rasoanaivo in exposing and spreading this music, Whittaker arranged a biweekly club night for musicians of varying styles at Grill de Rova in Tana, the capital city. The success of that night spawned Introducing Vakoka, a melding of 13 artists of numerous styles converging in Antananarivo's legendary Mars Music studio. Headed by Seta and, eventually to Whittaker's surprise, Hanitra, the outsider created sacred space for locals to do what they do best.

The album itself is an acoustic masterpiece. Despite the ever-present issues when musicians of stylistic difference come together (rhythmic approach, production mastering) and some rarer instances (chicken feeding, twisted ankles, spirit possessions), Seta and Hanitra culled 12 gorgeous tracks in six weeks. The polyrhythmic blend of breathing, chants and melody against the langoro (Malagasy drum) and marovany (box zither) creates a hypnotically stable beat, easily trance inducing. Many other elements across the album conjure such emotion: the intricate guitar work of Haja Rasolomahatratra and Claude Teta on "Salama" and "Vorondolo" simply seduce the listener, inviting them into the same ritualistic sound-play that must have engaged the musicians.

While every vocalist and musician is first class, there's something unique and special in Hanitra¹s vocals, and you instantly fall into her lines. The gorgeous "Era," about the modern anxiety of clock-watching, and "Vorombazaha," a traditional lullaby reworked to make a bird into an airplane, shows why Tarika has become known as one the top bands in the world. She exudes fanahy Gasy (Malagasy soul), what would be called duende among Spain's flamenco elites, and real (as in "keeping it") among American rappers. This she does, as her mission to let the world hear Madagascar's sonic folklore continues within her country's borders, and without.

Contributed by: Derek Beres for www.afropop.org