Bobo & Behaja (FRA, MAD)

With their roots in Madagascar, Bobo & Behaja will introduce the audience of this free concert at the House of Music Open-Air Stage to a musical tradition that is truly unique even in the universe of world music. The genre known as tsapiky, fed by the meeting between the village traditions of Africa’s largest island nation and modern African music, creates an unfathomable but highly captivating sound featuring frenetic rhythms, meandering guitar motifs, and soaring saxophone playing. The band takes its name from Maxime Bobo, the French saxophonist of the jazz band Electric Vocuhila, which is also known in Hungary after performing concerts here, and Behaja, the guitarist of the Malagasy tsapity band named after him. Also playing key roles alongside these two musicians are the band’s drummer and young singer: this music – deeply rooted in tradition but also very modern – is truly irresistible live, it’s basically impossible to sit down and listen to it – you have to shake along to it.

About the genre of tsapiky:
tsapiky is a musical style born from the meeting between village traditions and modern African music in the late 1970s, with the electric guitar constituting the lead instrument. It is primarily played in the southwestern part of Madagascar, during ceremonies organised to celebrate weddings, funerals and other events, during which the musicians play music from morning until late at night, sometimes even for several days at a stretch.