Feo-Gasy is a band from
Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
that perform a
traditional
A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...
''
ba-gasy'' music of the
Merina people
The Merina people (also known as the Imerina, Antimerina, or Hova) are the largest ethnic group in Madagascar.[Merina ...]
of the rural central highlands around the capital city of
Antananarivo
Antananarivo ( French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana, is the capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known as Antananarivo-Renivohitra ("Antananarivo-Mother Hill" or "An ...
. The band was founded in 1994 by superstar guitarist
Erick Manana
Erick Manana is an acoustic guitarist, singer and songwriter from Madagascar. He often performs in a duo or as a solo artist, singing in accompaniment to his acoustic guitar in the ''ba-gasy'' genre that gained prominence in the central highlands ...
and featured until his 2001 death the iconic ''
sodina'' player
Rakoto Frah
Philibert Rabezoza (1923 – 29 September 2001), better known by the name Rakoto Frah, was a flautist and composer of traditional music of the central highlands of Madagascar. Born in 1923 near the capital city of Antananarivo to a poor rural f ...
, the only
Malagasy musician ever to be featured on the
local currency
In economics, a local currency is a currency that can be spent in a particular geographical locality at participating organisations. A regional currency is a form of local currency encompassing a larger geographical area, while a community curren ...
. The group was originally composed of the acoustic guitarist and singer
Erick Manana
Erick Manana is an acoustic guitarist, singer and songwriter from Madagascar. He often performs in a duo or as a solo artist, singing in accompaniment to his acoustic guitar in the ''ba-gasy'' genre that gained prominence in the central highlands ...
, the sodina player and singer Rakoto Frah, singer and guitarist Jean-Colbert Ranaivoarison ("Rakôly"), vocalists Famantsoa Rajaonarison ("Fafa") and François-Daniel Rabeanirainy ("Beny"), and ''
valiha
The valiha is a tube zither from Madagascar made from a species of local bamboo; it is considered the " national instrument" of Madagascar. The term is also used to describe a number of related zithers of differing shapes and materials.
Th ...
'' player Bariliva Rasoavatsara, who died in December 2012.
Discography
See also
*
Music of Madagascar
The highly diverse and distinctive music of Madagascar has been shaped by the musical traditions of Southeast Asia, Africa, Oceania, Arabia, England, France and the United States over time as indigenous people, immigrants, and colonists have ma ...
Notes
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Malagasy musical groups