The Madagascan guitarist Damily, a disciple of and figurehead for tsapiky, is both virtuoso and radical. He grew up with this music from southern Madagascar and, over the course of a dozen albums, has transformed and refined the traditional genre into a modern, personal sound. Tsapiky, heard at dances in town and in the countryside, at funerals and parties, is the soundtrack for Madagascan hospitality.
Based in France since the early 2000s, Damily has created a more individual, enhanced form of tsapiky, a concert version that is just as powerful as that heard at Madagascan popular gatherings, but which is also similar to rock music and its guitar heroes. Electrifying and startling.