Aia Haja

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 Mandriampototsy (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 it's 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.