Lindigo has been singing maloya, music of the French island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean, for 20 years. The seven members on this album are joined by nine guests in various permutations, including three members of Los Muñequitos de Matanzas, the renowned Cuban rumba ensemble.
The motor energy is unstoppable. It involves a veritable cast list of musicians and instruments, the latter featuring piker (a bamboo cylinder hit with sticks), roulèr (bass drum), morlon and djembe (drums), katsa and kayamb (rattles) and others, as well as guitar, accordion, flute and bouzouki.
The interest here for jazz historians is whether or not the call-and-response complexity of the singing – with its choral elements, the exuberant lead vocals of Olivier Araste, and the overall bubbling optimism – are related to the pre-emancipation field hollers of slaves in the southern states of America that gave rise to the blues. There are links in that maloya, though relatively new, has origins in slave cultures of mainland Africa and Madagascar and among Réunion’s indentured workers from India.
Discography
Oyé Maloya; Nou Lé Kontan; Manzé Lontan; Tiako; Tanbou Tulé; Kadansé; Ti Bonbon; Hitsangana; Kartyé Maloya; Sa Pou Twé; Sakén; La Kaz (47.38)
Lindigo: Olivier Araste, Marceline Lauriane, Marceline Araste Joanès, Marceline Araste Xavier, Jean Aldo Araste, Mariama Moutin Pascal, Itema Jimmy); and others. No recording details.
Autre Distribution HWB58144
