Music of Réunion
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Réunion is a département of France, and its population is mostly Francophone blacks, with some Indians and French minorities. Cultural traditions akin to Caribbean vodun are practiced, though discouraged by local authorities, including maloya music, which is strongly associated with Firmin Viry and Granmoun Lélé. Réunion is also, along with neighbor Mauritius, home to sega music. Taarab from Tanzania is popular as well. Other popular singers include Maxime Laope, Léon Céleste, Henri Madoré and Mapou, named after a kind of perfumed sugarcane candy.
Séga is a popular style that mixes African rhythms with European instrumentation. Maloya is a similar fusion, but with a strong African element reflected in the use of slave chants and work songs.
The song "Madina" deserves special mention. It was frequently played on the island's only radio station in the 1950s and 60s. The song was written by Maxime Laope, one of the island's most popular singers, and performed by another renowned singer, Henri Madoré.
Nowadays Reunion Island is a fish pond of talented bands such as ziskakan or Baster (band). In Réunion there is a very strong jazz community and rock culture is also becoming strong on the island. But whatever the style of music played, Réunionnais music is defined by its cultural richness!
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Angola | Botswana | Comoros | Lesotho | Madagascar | Malawi | Mauritius |
[edit] References
- Ewens, Graeme and Werner Graebner. "A Lightness of Touch". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, pp 505-508. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
