Search - Tarika Sammy :: Beneath Southern Skies

Beautiful acoustic rock music from Madagascar

woburnmusicfan | Woburn, MA United States | 04/12/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This album is more acoustic and quiet than "Fanafody", but is still rewarding. Sammy and his cousin Tiana play a variety of native Madagascar instruments, such as the valiha (a zither strung along the outer length of a bamboo tube), marovany (a zither with strings along both sides of a thin rectangular box), kabosy (a small guitar with fretting that allows only the pentatonic scale), and jejy voatavo (a large, hollowed gourd with a fretboard attached). Lead singer Claudia has a phenomenal voice. And Johnny is simply one of the best bass players in the world, in any genre; for those who've listened to other Malagasy music, he's the D'Gary of the bass. "Tsarovy" in particular is a highlight."