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  • Justin Rakotondrasoa (Justin Vali)
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Justin Rakotondrasoa (Justin Vali)

  • Skill Category: Instrumentalists
  • Present Address: Madagascar
  • Country: Madagascar
  • Social media:

Biography

Justin Vali ; Born. 1964, Fierenana, Madagascar ; Member of. Madagascar All Stars, Ny Malagasy Orkestra ; Also Known As. Justin Rakotondrasoa [birth name]. He performs on the marovany box zither of central and southern Madagascar. Vali contributed to several compilations in the late 1980s before beginning to release his own albums in 1990. In 1994 he recorded Ny Marina (The Truth) at Real World Studios under Peter Gabriel’s Real World Records. In 1999 he released The Sunshine Within, a collaboration with Paddy Bush.[2] In 2008 he collaborated with Eric Manana and other prominent Malagasy artists to record an album as the Malagasy All Stars. Vali resides in Paris and performs regularly on the international world music festival circuit,[3] including performances on several continents with the WOMAD festival.[4] In 2006 he was awarded the Grand Prize for Traditional Music by Société des Auteurs Compositeurs et Editeurs de Musique, the French songwriters’ guild. Justin Vali’s technique is different to other players throughout history. He plays with his fingernails rather than his fingertips meaning that the instrument is not smoothly caressed in the traditional manner. Playing with his nails flavours the dynamics and changes the character of the valiha entirely. This was a technique that was born in Madagascar, but raised and matured in Paris. In the French capital, Justin created a blend of modern and ancient sounds; the nostalgia for memories of home combined with new experiences of his urban life. The result is a dazzling mixture of rhythms, time signatures, moods and textures, in an acoustic setting that avoids the clichés of contemporary African pop music.

News / Ranking / Titbits / Awards

Justin Vali ranks among the greatest living players of traditional Malagasy music on the valiha, a bamboo tube zither considered the national instrument of Madagascar.

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