Malagasy guitar and Somali love songs

Kathryn Tickell celebrates Valentine’s Day with an intimate acoustic session from Malagasy guitarist Damily. Long recognised as a key figure in tsapiky - the vibrant, fast-paced, guitar-driven dance music of southern Madagascar - Damily has spent decades travelling between villages, performing at ceremonies, celebrations and neighbourhood dances. Now based in France, his latest album marks a new chapter, stripping tsapiky right to its core: a one-to-one dialogue between the musician and his guitar.

Elsewhere in the show, curator and founder of the Somali digital cultural preservation archive Waaberi Phone, Idel Rasheed, picks out three tracks from the Qaraami tradition, Somali music characterised by its poetic lyrics, traditional instruments and enduring focus on romantic love.

Produced by Gabriel Francis and Fatuma Khaireh.
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3.

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