Customer Reviews

Moon & the Banana Tree: New Guitar Music from Madagascar

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This CD was, and still is, profoundly influential on me, especially my acoustic guitar playing. I bought the CD a couple of years ago while visiting relatives for Christmas. A CD player wasn't available where I was staying, so I had to make do looking at the booklet and liner notes. Inside was listed the guitar tunings that were used. Without having heard the CD, I decided to try the tunings on an old guitar that was lurking in a corner. MY WHOLE WORLD AND HEART OPENED UP! Right then, I found my voice on guitar. Within half an hour I wrote two instrumental pieces. Returning home a week later, I finally heard this CD and realized how deeply I was touched by this music. All the players on this CD have brought me great joy. A beautiful compilation ranging from sweet, fingerpicked Malagasy guitar to classical influence to etoufee style electric guitar. JOHNNY's solo pieces on electric bass are really cool! This CD is wonderful for blissful late-night listening with the volume low.

I produced this album in Madagascar and remain in contact with the artists, including the musicians on other albums from that expedition: Tarika Sammy's "Beneath Southern Skies," and "Resting Place of the Mists," a compilation focused on the valiha. I invite people to contact me directly about the project and the musicians.

This is one of my favorite CD's. I can set this CD to auto-repeat and let it go for hours before I feel the need to change it. Great acoustic guitar music and interesting vocals.

Add an extra star if you're a guitar player. This is a compilation of guitar music (predominantly acoustic) by ten guitarists from Madagascar. There are vocals on half the tracks, and sometimes percussion. Some musicians have adapted the sounds of the traditional Madagascar instruments marovany and valiha to guitar. You get Dama Mahaleo, probably the most renowned musician in the country, known for a Merle Travis-like picking style. There is classical guitar from Germain Rakotomavo and Etienne Ramboatiana, and jazzy sounds from Solo Razaf (from Miriam Makeba's band). The two most unique musicians here are the virtuosos Johnny (who plays bass, guitar, and valiha for Tarika Sammy) and D'Gary.

While the CD as a whole is very listenable, unless you're a guitarist yourself, it's going to be more background music than something you pay rapt attention to. The only piece here that I've ever had running through my head after a listen is Solo Razaf's "Paddies". Another reviewer said that the CD booklet includes the guitar tunings for every track--that is not the case for my copy of the CD (he may have confused this with a D'Gary album).

This CD covers the wonderful music of Madagascar and guitar is the main instrument. This CD has a lot of talents ranging from well-known artists such as Dama (Mahaleo) as well as less known but just as good artists. This is a good CD to have for Malagasy people as well as foreigners.

GREAT...FAMILIAR GUITAR ELEMENTS WHICH GET JOLTED BY AN EXOTIC RHYTMIC STRUCTURE OR VOCAL ELEMENT. IF YOU LIKE ACOUSTIC GUITAR (LEO KOTTKE, WILL ACKERMAN), AND ARE LOOKING FOR A SLIGHTLY NEW TWIST, THIS IS A GREAT RECORDING TO EXPLORE THE MUSIC OF THIS AREA.