bobo & behaja | aia haja?
AIA HAJA? WHERE IS BEHAJA?
isolated from the rest of the group at the front of the plane taking us from budapest to zurich, behaja left without waiting for us, confidently following a group of travellers who had gone to catch their connecting flight. lost in switzerland's largest airport, he had no phone and he speaks neither french, english nor german.
after an hour and a half of searching and several public announcements to the thousands of travellers, the airport police, initially uncooperative, finally found him at the end of a corridor. finally reunited, we managed to catch the transfer to paris at the last minute, but some of the suitcases – checked in hastily – were loaded into the hold of a different plane.
a few days later, we set off to record our first album, deprived of much of our equipment – horn loudspeakers, karaoke amplifiers and homemade effects pedals that reproduce the sonorities of the “bal-poussière” ceremonies of south-western madagascar – which the airline sent us after a week's wait.
so it was only during the last two days in the studio that the conditions were right for recording the tracks for this album.
the repertoire, largely created in madagascar and then performed on stage during a european tour of some thirty concerts, is based on the new rhythms, structures, instrumental and vocal techniques of contemporary tsapiky, of which behaja is one of the most emblematic musicians.
ekaly | vocals
maxime bobo | alto sax
behaja | guitar
françois rosenfeld | bass
gérard rakotoniaina | drums
credits
recorded at la chèvrerie in azé by antoine serreau
mixed by antoine serreau
mastering by peter deimel
artwork by marylou gabriel
created in madagascar and recorded in two days after a few mishaps during a european tour – notably the loss of guitarist behaja (hence the album title) at zurich airport – the repertoire on this album is inspired by the new sounds of contemporary malagasy tsapiky.
as an extension of the collaboration between electric vocuhila and the musicians of behaja, a leading group in modern tsapiky, this new formation creates a unique combination with the saxophone, blending tsapiky, (free) jazz, and rock.
© Carton records
released february 20, 2026
digital | cd | vinyle - ref cat rond 8
1 parepare 08:14
2 rodobey 05:35
3 kabosy 06:48
4 digital & CD only: tantely male zay 08:34
5 handeha hihisa zaho baba 07:06
6 rafoza manday tandra 05:57
7 karioke menamaso 07:23