Bobo & Behaja - Aia Haja? [CD]

Format: CD
Catalogue No.: ROND8CD
Barcode: 3770002812273 
Release Date: 20 Mar 2026
Genre: World / Jazz / Tsapiky, Madagascar 

This Franco-Malagasy quintet explores the new sounds and frantic rhythms of tsapiky, a young trance music born in the bal-poussière ceremonies of southwest Madagascar.

Extending the collaboration between Electric Vocuhila and the musicians of guitarist Behaja’s group, this ensemble creates an unprecedented combination with the saxophone, merging tsapiky with (free) jazz and rock.

Originally from Sakaraha, in southwest Madagascar, Behaja is one of the most influential musicians in contemporary tsapiky. Deeply rooted in the  andriampototsy (bal-poussière) tsapiky tradition, he is renowned for his mastery of the new guitar techniques, rhythmic approaches and structural developments that have emerged in the past 10 to 15 years in the Tulear region.

Deeply passionate about Malagasy tsapiky for the past decade, saxophonist Maxime Bobo (Electric Vocuhila, Mitsaitsaiky) travels regularly to Madagascar to perform with various modern tsapiky groups (Behaja, Rebona, Mahapoteke) and to conduct research and field recordings in order to understand and document the current evolution of this music (see the compilation Tsapiky! Modern Music from Southwest Madagascar, released in April 2025 on Sublime Frequencies).

Tsapiky is a young musical style that emerged in the late 1970s in the Tulear region of southwest Madagascar, born from the encounter between village traditions and modern African music, with the electric guitar rising as its leading instrument.
It is performed primarily in bal-poussière ceremonies — funerals, weddings, and other celebrations — during which musicians play from morning until dawn, sometimes for several days.

TRACKLIST : 
A1. Parepare 
A2. Robodey 
A3. Kabosy 
04. Tantely Male Zay CD & DIGITAL ONLY 
B5. Handeha Hihisa Zaho Baba 
B6. Rafoza Manday Tandra 
B7. Karioke Menamaso