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ruly impressive was the performance given by rising star Christine Salem on the evening organised by SACEM, the French authors’ rights society. Salem pos- sesses a powerful, deep voice that resonantly delivers songs in Creole, Malagasy, Comorian and Swahili, while subtly mixing Indian Ocean and African rhythms. Accompa- nied by three tight percussionists, the very passionate Salem delved deep into the traditional music and rhythms of both her native island and the entire Indian Ocean. In the course of her concert she gradually went into trance by calling the spirits of their ancestors. The intensity of her singing and performance brought to mind Miriam Makeba and Nina Simone. Following this great show, Salem explained what she was singing about.
“I have two kinds of text. In the first I sing about everyday life. In the second I let myself completely go into a trance, I don’t even know where the words come from. Besides being entertainment music, maloya is also played at ceremonies dedicated to our ances- tors. During these ceremonies songs spontaneously emerge. When the slaves were brought to La Réunion, they were forced to change their religion and to give up their ancestors’ tradition. Most of them became Catholic though some secretly kept their tradition. At school we never learned about this untold history of La Réunion. So when I later discovered what happened in the days of slavery I real- ly got mad. So anger is one my inspirations to make music.”
Being successful with maloya in La Réunion is one thing, but successfully bringing it to stages worldwide is quite another. IOMMA co-director Gerald Seligman explains that “Distance is one of the big problems – to fly anywhere at all out of the region is a considerable expense. Having a unique music and so many superlative but relatively unknown artists means that there is a market for the music. And now, with so many venues and festivals, it is easier than ever to create a tour with enough dates so that the effort can be worthwhile.”
Since IOMMA is a showcase for music from all over the Indian Ocean, many artists from outside the island were invited. One of Africa’s most accomplished songwriters, Ben Sharpa from South Africa, has coupled his texts about social consciousness, politics, con- spiracy theories and the fight for survival with hard-hitting reggae and electronic beats. Not everybody liked his somewhat monotonous songs drenched with reverb but his message was clear. Also appealing to an urban and young audience was the Australian collective Dub Marine, who managed to engage their audience with an energetic mix of reggae, dub, dancehall, R&B and drum’n’bass, resulting in socially engaged and danceable urban music.
More urban sounds came from Bo Houss from Mayotte – just like La Réunion, a French overseas department. When the former French colony of the Comoros Islands became independent in 1975, the island of Mayotte chose to remain French. Bo Houss inte- grate such local styles as m’godro into hip-hop and R&B music in the Mahorais language.
Also hailing from Comoros were the band of guitarist-singer
Mounawar, who mixed such traditional Comorian rhythms as m’godro, chigoma and n’kandza with funk and Afrobeat. With lyrics about injustice and unemployment, Mounawar created fresh new sounds from this little known archipelago.
The final night of IOMMA was a free admission Fiesta de l’Océan Indien, which was held on four stages, dotted along the seafront boulevard of St Pierre. Thousands of visitors enjoyed 20 music acts, typical Réunion cuisine, rum and the locally pro- duced Dodo beer.
Immediately following IOMMA was the 9th edition of Sakifo, a three night public festival held in a 4.5 acre park on the beautiful beaches of St Pierre. This festival is also run by Jérome Galabert, who again applied his ‘no code of restrictions’ principle. So the music on offer ranged from Réunion fanfare and maloya hip hop from Alex Sorrel to such international attractions as retro funk diva Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, German reggae singer Patrice, French superstar Julien Doré, Earth Wind & Fire Experience, Calyp- so Rose from Trinidad and new bright Guinean hope Sia Tolno. The motto of this well-organised festival, attended by 20,000 people, was ‘Wi Nou Lé Kapab’, Creole for ‘Yes we are capable!
My unforgettable week on La Réunion ended with a free concert on Sunday morning by Danyèl Waro, who gave an incredibly strong performance on a stage situated right on the beach of Terre Sainte. The heady combination of his trance- inducing songs, hot burning sun and thundering waves of the mighty, mighty Indian Ocean transported me into a dreamlike, higher state of consciousness.
http://www.iomma.net F
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