Madagascan musician, Eusebe Jaojoby, has been touring South Africa, giving us a feel for why his countrymen have named him the 'king of salegy', writes Theresa Smith
“Whoa, when he did get time to change,” my colleague asks when Jaojoby gets onto the stage at the Gugu S’thebe Arts and Culture Centre in Langa.
Fifteen minutes earlier we had just interviewed the Madagascan “king of salegy” who was buttoned up against the cold in a big, black jacket and jeans. Now he was wearing a traditional Malagasy striped orange, yellow and red lamba (printed cloth) and off-white fitted vest and the back-up singers were kitted out in colourful outfits.
“Remember, he said the material was actually from Bombay,” but my reply is lost because the set has started and the musicians don’t let up.
A group of elated fans, who seem to be Madagascan from their enthusiastic response to Jaojoby’s Malagasy comments, quickly get up and dance in front of the stage, even forming a congo line of sorts to dance around the room. Couples pair up, both facing the same way, but dancing to the beat in an almost stately, but enthusiastic procession.
Jaojoby and his crew have been touring South Africa since the end of May and was the featured artist at the launch of the Nu World Music Festival in Langa last week before appearing at the Fete de la Musique in Newtown, Joburg at the weekend. (The Nu World Music Festival, July 17 and 18 at the Cape Town City Hall, at which point Jaojoby will have already left the country, but the Alliance Francaise organised for the musician to perform as part of his South Africa tour).
Salegy is the most popular dance form in Madagascar: “It is the traditional music of Madagascar, but we play it with modern instruments,” explained Jaojoby (whose first name is Eusebe, but he uses his surname as his stage name).
Madagascan musicians of the 19th century switched to the accordion because it was more powerful, but salegy took it a step further in the late 1970s to early ’80s.
At the time the now 59-year-old was studying sociology (he went on to become a journalist), but playing at a hotel bar and local clubs in the evenings, working on a sound which morphed into what we hear him play on World Music stages around the globe today – traditional Madagascan music using modern instruments like electric guitars, keyboards and a full drumkit.
Now the guitar replaces the valiha (bamboo tube zither) and the keyboards do what the accordion used to, with the bass guitar supplementing the drums which now stand in for the sound of the original audience clapping along to the music.
“It has good melody and is well written. We play music that’s not difficult to dance to,” he explained the style. “When you play the guitar or the keyboard, that is universal, but if we sing it a capella, then we do it exactly like our ancestors.”
He is related to most of the people in his band – his wife is one of the vocalists, the lead guitarist is his youngest son and his brother is the bassist – and this also influences the sound: “We are two generations so I let them play and they do their thing with the instruments. Maybe there is some modern thing, but my way of singing? We still do it like our forefathers. It’s a mixture of traditional and modern.”
Most of the songs on his set list are in Malagasy, with the occasional French or English number, though he does explain what the songs are about: “People get the melody.”
Back when he started, Jaojoby used to reference artists such as James Brown or Wilson Pickett, but today you are more likely to think of Wasis Diop or Cesaria Evora when he plays. The beat is infectious, and vocals are laced over a hypnotic rhythm, the kind of thing that remixes well in dance clubs.
He says he still thinks the best salegy players are the ones who stayed in the countryside of his island home, the ones who didn’t move to the city, but kept on with their traditional styles: “They sing better than me, but didn’t have the luck to get here. I always try to look backwards, to go to the root. For me, they’re better at singing the salegy, but, we live in town now.”
• Jaojoby performs on Fingo Square today at the National Arts Festival.