Rakotozafy

Rakotozafy (1933 - 1974) was one of the best valiha players in Madagascar. His version of the valiha featured a total of 24 strings in the two sets, each set tuned to a different scale. Rakotozafy made his first recordings in the early 1960s for DiscoMad, released as singles and 45 EPs. British record label GlobeStyle released a compilation titled Valiha Malaza in 1988. Legend has it that Rakotozafy took the $600 recording fee for his only album Valiha Malaza (Famous Valiha) and went on a huge drinking binge which resulted in his death. Valiha Malaza features Rakotozafy's young son on vocals, and the musician can be heard crossly chiding the boy for his performance. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.