Metisse Maloya

The island of La Réunion is a French territory located in the Indian Ocean, lying to the east of Madagascar, just a couple of hundred kilometres from Mauritius. The indigenous music of the island is known as maloya; Johann Berby is a well-known and well-travelled professional bass guitarist and vocalist in the style. Apart from playing many recording sessions, he also worked for five years as bassist in the Trilok Gurtu Band. He now performs solo and his first album reveals that he has a very broad spectrum of musical influences: this is music inevitably rooted in his homelands, but with a strong jazz and classical flavour. His personal influences are Malagasy, Mozambican and Indian and in his music there is consequently no single particular style that dominates.

Instrumentally, it's violin and cello that take the lead on most of the songs. There are also some moments of pop and rock that make use of a fuzz-tone electric guitar; and one West African-influenced track that's a particular highlight, featuring Baba Sissoko playing ngoni. Johann Berby sings in French and Réunion Creole and has an enjoyable and confident voice. He's clearly an accomplished bass guitarist and the ensemble playing here is deft and highly imaginative.